STAND 


PAT 

OR 

POKER  STORIES 

FROM 

THE  MISSISSIPPI 


DAVID  A. CURTIS 


Or    THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


STAND    PAT 


"  THERE    WAS    NO    NEED,    HOWEVER,    OF    ANOTHER    SHOT." 

(Seepage  36.] 


Stand    Pat 


Or 


Poker  Stories  from  the  Mississippi 


By 

David    A,     Curtis 


Illustrated     by 

Henry    Roth 


Boston     A*     L.    C.    PAGE    & 
COMPANY      4*       Mdccccvi 


Copyright,  1900,  1901,  1902 
BY  THE  SUN  PRINTING  AND  PUBLISHING  ASSOCIATION 


Copyright,  rqob 
BY  L.  C.  PAGE  &  COMPANY 

(INCORPORATED) 
All  rights  reserved 


First  Impression,  May,  1906 


Colonial 

Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  C.  H.  Simonds  &  Co. 
Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 


THE  things  that  I  saw,  that  seemed  worthy 
of  note,  I  have  set  down  without  prejudice 
to  the  little  town  of  Brownsville,  which  has 
grown  since  I  was  there.  Let  no  citizen  of 
the  place  pursue  me  vindictively  because 
I  found  him  less  interesting  than  Stumpy. 
And  let  no  one's  civic  pride  suffer  because 
I  noted  in  the  town  only  what  seemed  to 
me  picturesque.  I  have  no  quarrel  with 
Brownsville.  I  got  away  from  there.  What 
I  saw  while  there  seems  worth  the  telling. 
Much  of  it  I  have  told  in  the  Sunday  Sun. 
That,  and  more  will  be  found  in  this  book. 

DAVID  A.  CURTIS. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGB 

I.  A  NEW  POKER  DECK i 

II.  THREE  KINGS 11 

III.  FINISH  OF  THE  ONE-EYED  MAN.        .        .  23 

IV.  LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER    .        .        .  37 

V.  STUMPY'S  DILEMMA 53 

VI.  GALLAGHER'S  RETURN 67 

VII.  GALLAGHER  STRIPPED 80 

VIII.  A  TRIAL  OF  SKILL 93 

IX.  A  SOCIAL  CALL 103 

X.  STUMPY  VIOLATES  ETIQUETTE      .        .        .  115 

XI.  THE  NEW  POKER  RULE  MADE  IN  ARKANSAS  128 

XII.  A  STRANGER  AND  FOND  OF  POKER     .        .  143 

XIII.  ON  HAND  JUST  ONCE 155 

XIV.  IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL       .        .        .        .168 
XV.  HE  SAT  IN  WITH  A  V 183 

XVI.  His  QUEER  SYSTEM 198 

XVII.  AN  EXTRA  ACE 213 

XVIII.  PLAYED  BY  THE  BOOK 227 

XIX.  ONLY  ONE  SURE  WAY  TO  WIN  .         .        .  243 

XX.  KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH      ....  253 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

«  THERE    WAS    NO    NEED,    HOWEVER,    OF    ANOTHER 

SHOT  "  (Seepage  36}  ....       Frontispiece 

"JUST    THEN     THE    REPORT    OF    A    PISTOL-SHOT    RANG 

OUT" 56 

"'YE  HAVE  SIX  CARDS  IN  YER  HAND,  YE  SPALPEEN*"  112 
"  IN  PAYING  FOR  THE  DRINKS  STUMPY  SHOWED  A 

ROLL  OF  RESPECTABLE  SIZE"  .  .  •  .150 

«  <  WITH  ONE  HAND  HE  GRABBED  WlNTERBOTTOM'S 

GUN    WHILE    HE    PUT    THE    MONEY    IN    HIS    POCKET 

WITH  THE  OTHER'" 210 

«  «  BUT   CERTAINLY   YOU  AIN'T  GOIN'  TO   BET   ON   THAT 

HAND?'"  268 


STAND  PAT 


A    NEW    POKER   DECK 

IT  was  with  entire  unanimity,  though 
without  haste  or  undue  excitement,  that  the 
male  population  of  Brownsville  emerged 
from  the  various  buildings  on  the  street  when 
the  hoarse  whistle  of  the  Rosa  Lee  was  heard 
at  about  five  o'clock  one  afternoon  in  June 
of  1 88 1.  The  feminine  portion  of  the  com 
munity  was  seldom  in  evidence,  but  such 
glimpses  as  a  stranger  might  enjoy  were  to 
be  had  at  the  same  time,  for  the  women 
came  to  their  doors  and  looked  out,  list 
lessly,  indeed,  but  with  as  much  interest  as 
they  ever  displayed  in  anything  short  of  a 
fight  such  as  occasionally  disturbed  the  nor 
mal  quietude  of  the  place. 

It  was  noticeable  that  the  men  who  came 
i 


STAND    PAT 


forth  and  who  made  their  way  toward  the 
landing  all  paused  at  the  barroom  near  the 
wharf.  There  was  ample  time  to  attend  to 
such  business  as  the  boat  might  bring,  for 
she  would  not  arrive  for  half  an  hour,  at 
least,  and  the  barroom  was  handily  located 
for  a  meeting-place. 

No  great  amount  of  money  had  been 
squandered  on  the  decorations  of  this  par 
ticular  temple  of  Bacchus,  but  such  furni 
ture  as  was  deemed  essential  had  been  pro 
vided,  and  the  main  piece  of  it,  outside  of 
the  bar  itself,  was  a  circular  table  about 
four  feet  in  diameter,  covered  with  what 
had  once  been  green  baize.  It  had  suf 
fered  long  from  rough  usage,  but  was  still 
serviceable. 

Around  this  table,  as  the  citizens  of 
Brownsville  straggled  in,  they  saw  four 
men  sitting  with  cards  in  their  hands  and 
chips  in  front  of  them.  One  was  Long 
Mike,  whose  nickname  was  no  mark  of  dis 
respect,  since  he  was  the  richest  and  most 
influential  man  in  town,  but  whose  enormous 
height  and  general  appearance  made  it 


A   NEW    POKER   DECK  3 

impossible  to  call  him  anything  else,  once 
the  nickname  was  uttered.  Wherefore,  his 
surname,  if  he  had  one,  had  been  by  general 
consent,  forgotten. 

Another  was  Gallagher,  his  foreman. 
A  third  was  a  man  with  one  eye  only,  who 
dealt  cards  with  singular  deftness,  and  was 
never  known  to  do  any  manual  labour. 

And  the  fourth  was  a  short,  but  very 
thick  man,  usually  known  as  Stumpy,  be 
cause  of  his  figure.  His  hair  was  of  a  vivid 
and  gorgeous  red  colour,  and  he  had  no 
quarrel  on  the  ground  of  nationality  with 
either  Gallagher  or  Long  Mike. 

The  game  was  not  a  big  one.  People 
seldom  played  for  very  large  stakes  in 
Brownsville,  except  on  occasions  when 
strangers  came  to  town,  when  sometimes 
there  would  be  real  gambling,  for  Long 
Mike  had  sporting  proclivities,  as  well  as 
means,  and  the  one-eyed  man  had  never 
been  known  to  decline  any  sort  of  proposi 
tion  involving  a  game  of  chance. 

This  afternoon  they  were  playing  a  dime 
limit,  but  with  as  much  spirit  as  if  the  game 


STAND    PAT 


was  for  blood,  and  they  had  just  called  on 
Sam,  the  bartender,  for  a  new  deck  of 
cards. 

'  I'll  have  time  to  take  in  about  three 
more  pots,"  said  Long  Mike,  "  afore  the 
boat  lands,  so  I'll  make  'em  as  large  as  I 
can,"  and  he  opened  the  jack-pot  for  the 
limit. 

"Well,  ye  may  take  three  pots,"  said 
Stumpy,  who  came  next,  "  but  I'm  thinkin' 
ye'll  not  take  this  wan.  Av  ye  do,  ye'll  get 
more  than  that."  And  he  boosted  it  the 
limit. 

The  one-eyed  man  said  nothing  —  he 
never  wasted  words  —  but  he  put  up  thirty 
cents. 

:l  Here's  where  I  get  a  chanst  o'  pickin' 
up  money,"  said  Gallagher,  who  was  deal 
ing.  And  he  put  up  forty  cents. 

"  Once  more,"  said  Long  Mike.  And  he 
raised  again. 

"As  often  as  ye  like,"  said  Stumpy,  and 
his  forty  cents  went  in  promptly. 

The  one-eyed  man  also  raised  it,  and 
Gallagher  fairly  whooped  with  joy  at  the 


A   NEW   POKER   DECK  5 

opportunity  he  had  to  make  it  ten  more  to 
play. 

"  I  reckon  it's  no  good  givin'  yez  b'yes 
good  advice,"  said  Long  Mike  as  it  came  his 
turn  again.  "  The  best  thing  I  can  do  for 
yez'll  be  to  take  your  money.  Yez  may 
learn  that  way,  when  to  lay  down."  And 
once  more  he  raised  it  the  limit. 

"  It's  all  right  y'  are,"  said  Stumpy. 
"  Sure  it's  downright  dishonest  to  be  lettin' 
thim  play  furder.  Let's  kape  thim  out." 
And  he  raised  again. 

But  the  others  wouldn't  be  kept  out. 
The  one-eyed  man  raised,  and  Gallagher, 
getting  his  turn  again,  said: 

"  I'll  give  yez  all  warnin'.  I'll  raise  this 
pot  ivery  toime  it  cooms  to  me.  Kape  on 
now.  Ruin  yersel's  av  ye  loike."  And  his 
money  went  in  with  a  bang. 

Long  Mike  looked  puzzled. 

"  Sure  yez  ahl  must  have  straights  or 
flushes  or  such  trash,  an'  guns  wudn't  kape 
yez  out.  Wudn't  it  be  best  to  take  off  the 
limit?  We're  losin'  time  this  way  and  th' 
boat'll  be  in  soon.  What  d'  yez  say?  " 


6 STAND    PAT 

"  That'd  suit  me  fine,"  said  Stumpy.  "  I 
have  yez  all  bated  a  mile,  an'  the  sooner  I 
get  th'  money  the  betther  for  me." 

"Take  it  off,"  said  the  one-eyed  man,  and 
Gallagher,  who  had  been  growing  more  and 
more  excited,  declared  that  his  pile  would 
go  on  his  hand  in  one  bet. 

"  Well,"  said  Long  Mike,  "  it's  five  dollars 
more  I'll  make  it."  And  he  put  up  the 
money. 

"  I  have  siventeen  dollars  an'  fifty  cents 
here,"  said  Stumpy,  producing  an  old  wallet 
and  counting  out  the  bills.  The  odd  half- 
dollar  he  fished  out  of  his  pocket,  and  plac 
ing  the  whole  amount  in  the  middle  of  the 
table,  together  with  a  few  chips  that  he  still 
had  left,  he  said:  "  That's  my  pile.  Av  yez 
want  to  see  my  hand,  ye'll  match  thot." 

The  one-eyed  man  was  as  quiet  as  ever, 
but  he  carefully  counted  out  the  equivalent 
of  Stumpy's  bet,  and  added  ten  dollars  to  it, 
shoving  the  entire  sum  into  the  pot. 

Not  even  at  that  was  Gallagher  daunted, 
but  after  exploring  his  pockets  carefully  he 
declared  he  was  all  in  with  about  twelve  dol- 


A   NEW   POKER   DECK  7 

lars.  He  made  bigger  wages  than  Stumpy, 
but  spent  his  money  more  freely. 

Long  Mike  said  nothing  until  he  had  care 
fully  portioned  out  the  pot,  putting  the  share 
in  which  Gallagher  had  an  interest  in  one 
pile,  and  that  which  Stumpy  expected  to  win 
in  another.  Then  he  made  good,  up  to  the 
amount  of  the  one-eyed  man's  wager,  and 
raised  him  twenty  dollars. 

That  worthy  appeared  entirely  undis 
turbed.  All  the  chips  on  the  table  were 
already  in  the  pot,  and  he  produced  a  small 
roll  of  bills  from  an  inside  pocket  which  he 
proceeded  to  count.  Finding  some  sixty  dol 
lars  in  it,  he  threw  it  all  on  the  table. 

Long  Mike  covered  it,  and  raised  one  hun 
dred  dollars. 

"  Well,"  said  the  one-eyed  man,  "  I  reckon 
that  will  be  about  enough  till  after  the 
draw,"  and  he  made  good. 

"  How  many? "  said  Gallagher,  as  he 
picked  up  the  deck. 

"Well,  ye  moight  give  me  wan,"  said 
Long  Mike,  with  ostentatious  indifference. 


8 STAND    PAT 

And  when  Gallagher  dealt  it  to  him,  he  let 
it  lie  face  down. 

"  These'll  do  me,"  said  Stumpy,  and  it 
was  observable  that  the  ring  of  confidence 
was  lacking  in  the  tone  of  his  voice. 

The  one-eyed  man  skinned  his  cards  care 
fully  before  calling  for  any,  and  for  just  one 
instant  an  expression  of  bewilderment  might 
have  been  noted  on  his  face,  but  after  a  mo 
ment's  hesitation  he  also  called  for  one  card. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  discovered  that 
two  of  his  queens  were  clubs,  but  he  had 
quickly  resolved  to  say  nothing  and  trust  to 
the  chance  of  the  others  not  noticing  it. 

"Well,"  said  Gallagher,  "I'll  take  wan 
messilf,  just  to  kape  yez  company,"  and  he 
dealt  himself  one. 

"  It's  your  bet,"  he  said  to  Long  Mike, 
who  then  picked  up  the  card  he  had  drawn. 

When  he  saw  it  his  eyes  seemed  to  bulge 
out  suddenly,  and  his  mouth  opened  wide 
with  astonishment. 

"  Pfwat  the  divil!"  he  exclaimed,  and 
then  he  burst  out  laughing  so  loudly  that 
no  one  paid  any  attention  to  the  toot-toot- 


A   NEW    POKER   DECK  9 

toot  of  the  Rosa  Lee's  whistle,  which,  had 
they  heard  it,  would  have  told  them  that  the 
boat  was  approaching  the  landing. 

The  others  looked  in  wonder  while  he 
laughed  —  all  but  the  one-eyed  man,  who 
seemed  to  have  an  inkling  of  the  truth,  and 
he  grinned,  though  rather  sorrowfully,  as 
if  he  thought  of  the  money  he  had  felt  sure 
of  winning. 

"  Well,  b'yes,  yez  can't  bate  that  hand,  any 
how,"  said  Long  Mike  as  soon  as  he  could 
speak,  and  he  threw  down  five  aces. 

They  all  stared  —  Stumpy  the  hardest  of 
all.  Then  he  joined  in  the  laugh. 

"  Sure  there  do  be  aces  to  burn  in  thot 
pack,"  he  said.  "  I  have  two  of  thim  me 
own  silf,  wid  three  kings."  And  he  showed 
them  down. 

"  Sure  I  have  you  bate,  anyhow,"  said 
Gallagher,  who  was  as  surprised  as  any  one 
else,  but  who  seemed  to  cherish  the  idea  of 
winning  something,  somehow.  "  I  have  four 
jacks,"  and  he  showed  them,  but  they  were 
all  red. 

"  Let's  have  a  look  at  the  deck,"  said  the 


10 STAND    PAT 

one-eyed  man,  and  he  spread  the  cards  out, 
face  up. 

A  most  surprising  number  of  face  cards 
remained,  despite  the  eleven  that  had  been 
distributed  in  the  deal,  and  there  was  a  con 
spicuous  absence  of  small  cards. 

"  Wat  sort  of  a  divil's  game  is  this,  I  don't 
know? "  asked  Stumpy. 

The  one-eyed  man  picked  up  the  case  that 
had  held  the  deck,  from  the  corner  where  it 
had  been  thrown,  and  read  the  word  "Pin 
ochle  "  on  it. 

"  It's  a  game  the  Dutchmen  play  in  the 
East,"  he  said.  "  I've  heard  of  it,  but  I've 
never  seen  it  played.  But  it  does  give  a  man 
good  poker  hands,  doesn't  it?  " 

There  was  nothing  to  do  but  divide  the 
pot,  and  by  the  time  each  man  had  drawn 
down  his  money  the  Rosa  Lee  was  screeching 
a  continuous  toot  for  rousters  to  catch  her 
lines,  and  the  barroom  was  quickly  emptied. 


II 

THREE  KINGS 

AFTER  the  river  was  frozen  up  and  the 
boats  could  no  longer  ply  the  upper  Missis 
sippi,  the  only  approach  to  Brownsville  from 
the  other  river  towns  was  by  the  stage-sleigh 
that  came  from  La  Crosse.  This  crossed 
three  times  a  week  each  way,  and  occasion 
ally  brought  some  stranger  to  the  town, 
though  why  a  stranger  should  come,  unless 
he  arrived  on  a  boat  that  would  presently 
carry  him  farther  along  on  his  way,  was  a 
thing  Brownsville  could  not  readily  under 
stand. 

It  was  therefore  with  mild  surprise  that 
the  citizens  of  the  place  saw  one  Jack  Brit- 
ton  jump  out  of  the  low  box  sleigh  one  eve 
ning  in  the  middle  of  winter.  Nothing  was 

said  to  him  when  he  alighted.     It  was  not 

11 


12 STAND    PAT 

Brownsville's  way  to  greet  newcomers  with 
enthusiasm. 

But  such  of  the  citizens  as  happened  to 
be  near  lined  up  expectantly  in  front  of 
Sam's  bar,  when  Mr.  Britton,  after  stamping 
his  feet  a  few  times,  and  thrashing  his  arms 
across  his  chest  to  get  his  blood  in  circula 
tion,  entered  the  barroom  and  walked  over 
to  the  stove  to  warm  his  fingers. 

After  he  had  stood  there  for  a  few  min 
utes,  and  had,  presumably,  recovered  from 
the  chill  of  the  long  ride,  he  stepped  up  to 
the  bar  and  called  for  some  whiskey.  His 
manner  was  that  of  a  man  who  is  immersed 
in  thought,  and  for  the  moment  he  seemed 
not  to  observe  that  there  were  others  present. 

Sam  produced  a  bottle  and  a  glass  and  set 
them  on  the  bar,  and  Mr.  Britton  poured 
out  a  drink  for  a  grown  man.  He  did  not 
know  it,  or  it  seemed  as  if  he  did  not,  but 
the  eyes  of  the  community  were  fixed  upon 
him. 

That  is,  eyes  belonging  to  some  eight  or 
nine  representative  citizens  of  Brownsville 
were  so  fixed,  and  for  one  critical  moment 


THREE    KINGS 13 

there  appeared  to  be  a  strong  probability 
that  Mr.  Britton  would  fail  to  establish  him 
self  on  any  footing  which  would  entitle  him 
to  favourable  consideration. 

In  some  mysterious  way  he  became  aware 
of  this  without  anything  being  said.  Being, 
as  he  was,  the  focus  of  eight  distinct  glares 
of  surprise,  he  became  aware  that  something 
was  wrong,  and,  pausing  in  the  very  act  of 
lifting  his  glass,  he  looked  slowly  around, 
and  then  said,  heartily  enough: 

"  Excuse  me,  gentlemen.  Won't  you  join 
me?" 

They  would  and  they  did,  and  it  remained 
possible  for  Mr.  Britton  to  make  a  good 
impression.  The  mere  fact  that  he  was  un 
usual  would  not,  of  itself,  damn  him  hope 
lessly,  but  the  curious  behaviour  of  a  man 
who  would  come  so  near  a  fatal  breach  of 
etiquette  in  apparent  unconsciousness,  was 
enough  to  raise  a  doubt,  and  while  the  doubt 
remained  Brownsville  was  not  likely  to  make 
overtures. 

Jim  Bixby,  the  stage-driver,  had  swal 
lowed  his  liquor  and  gone  outside  to  attend 


14 STAND    PAT       

to  his  horses,  and,  after  an  interchange  of 
glances  among  some  of  the  others  in  the 
room,  Larry  Hennessy  slouched  out  through 
the  door  and  was  lost  to  sight. 

Making  his  way  to  the  stable,  where  Bixby 
was  rubbing  his  horses  down,  he  stood  for  a 
few  moments  looking  on.  Presently  he  said : 

"  Thot  mon  inside,  yonder.  Is  he  a  La 
Crosse  man,  I  don't  know?" 

Bixby  finished  with  one  horse  and  began 
on  the  other  before  he  answered.  Then  he 
said: 

"  He's  on'y  been  around  f'r  about  a  week. 
Come  f'm  somewheres  East.  Been  playin' 
cards  a  good  bit  in  Russell's  place.  Left 
kind  o'  sudden.  Didn't  hear  much  about 
it,  but  they  was  some  kind  of  a  mix-up  in 
a  game  last  night.  Didn't  have  nothin'  to  say 


comin'  over." 


This  marvel  of  succinctness  being  duly 
absorbed  by  Hennessy  and  reported  to  the 
community  in  a  much  enlarged  form,  was 
sufficient  to  prepare  Brownsville  for  the  cam 
paign  which  Mr.  Jack  Britton  entered  upon 
forthwith. 


THREE    KINGS 15 

Having  once  shaken  off  the  preoccupied 
and  abstracted  air  which  he  wore  when  he 
arrived  in  town,  he  developed  into  a  jovial, 
free-handed  man  of  convivial  tendencies, 
though  sparing  in  his  own  consumption  of 
Sam's  liquor,  and  was  accepted  readily 
enough  as  a  nomad  whose  occupation  was 
that  of  a  professional  gambler. 

It  might  have  been  supposed,  because  of 
certain  previous  experiences,  that  Browns 
ville  would  be  reluctant  to  afford  Mr.  Brit- 
ton  an  opportunity  to  exercise  his  skill,  but 
Brownsville,  in  some  respects,  was  like  the 
rest  of  the  world,  and  Long  Mike  and  Mc 
Carthy  were  both  resident  in  the  place. 

"  Sure,  I  do  be  thinkin'  that  McCarthy 
can  play  more  poker  an'  win  less  money  than 
any  other  mon  in  Iowa,"  said  Stumpy,  when 
he  came  into  the  barroom  that  night  and 
found  a  game  in  progress,  as  he  had,  indeed, 
shrewdly  suspected  would  be  the  case. 

Long  Mike  was  also  in  the  game,  but  Long 
Mike  sometimes  won,  having  remarkable 
streaks  of  luck,  such  as  McCarthy  never 
seemed  to  get.  And  the  one-eyed  man  was 


16 STAND    PAT 

playing,  too,  so  that  there  was  really  no  rea 
son  to  suppose  that  the  stranger  was  the  only 
man  at  the  table  who  understood  all  the 
tricks  of  the  game. 

Hennessy  had  bought  a  stack  of  chips,  and 
even  Stumpy,  though  he  was  a  prudent  man 
usually,  was  soon  interested  enough  to  ask 
for  a  hand.  As  there  was  no  objection,  he 
took  the  sixth  seat. 

It  cost  him  only  five  dollars  for  a  stack, 
and  as  the  game  was  table  stakes,  there  was 
a  chance  for  him  either  to  go  broke  speedily, 
or  to  win  considerable  money.  At  first,  it 
seemed  likely  that  he  might  do  the  latter,  for 
the  very  first  hand  he  picked  up  had  three 
kings. 

Long  Mike  was  dealing  and  it  was  Hen- 
nessy's  age,  so  Stumpy  had  first  say,  he  hav 
ing  sat  down  between  Hennessy  and  Mc 
Carthy. 

"  I'll  play,"  he  said,  throwing  in  his  red 
chip  with  the  two  whites  that  Hennessy  had 
put  up  for  an  ante. 

McCarthy  played  also.  It  was  to  be  ex 
pected  that  he  would,  for  it  was  as  hard  for 


THREE    KINGS 17 

him  to  stay  out  as  it  was  to  win.  The  one- 
eyed  man  came  in,  Britton  raised  it,  and 
Long  Mike  and  Hennessy  laid  down. 

"  Sure  I'll  raise  that,"  said  Stumpy,  mak 
ing  it  one  dollar  more. 

McCarthy  swore,  but  even  his  optimism 
was  not  enough  to  induce  him  to  see  a  double 
raise  on  two  nines,  and  he  threw  down  his 
cards.  The  one-eyed  man  and  Britton  both 
made  good,  however,  and  they  called  for 
cards. 

Stumpy  took  two,  which  proved  to  be  a 
small  pair.  The  one-eyed  man  took  one,  and 
Britton  stood  pat. 

Stumpy  threw  in  a  white  chip,  being  sure 
of  a  raise,  but  the  one-eyed  man  dropped. 
He  had  not  bettered  his  two  pairs.  Britton 
raised  it  one  dollar,  and  Stumpy  pushed  all 
his  chips  forward.  A  king  full  seemed 
worth  backing,  and,  when  Britton  called,  he 
showed  them  down  triumphantly. 

"  Give  me  another  stack,"  was  all  that 
Britton  said  as  he  threw  down  his  cards. 

It  may  have  been  part  of  his  plan  to  lose 
at  first,  and  in  any  case  the  loss  was  not  heavy 


18 STAND    PAT 

enough  to  daunt  him,  but  he  smiled  as  cheer 
fully  as  if  he  had  won. 

There  was  no  play  on  Hennessy's  deal,  and 
a  jack-pot  was  made.  Stumpy  dealt  next  and 
caught  three  kings  again. 

No  one  opened  until  it  came  to  him  and 
he  put  up  the  size  of  the  pot,  hardly  expect 
ing  any  stayers.  Britton,  however,  came  in, 
taking  a  chance  on  a  red  and  a  black  eight, 
and  Long  Mike  decided  to  speculate  on  a 
four  flush. 

Neither  of  them  bettered,  and  Stumpy 
showed  his  kings  and  took  the  pot. 

"  Lucky  cards,"  said  Britton,  and  no  other 
comment  was  made. 

Again  there  was  no  play  and  another 
jack-pot  was  made.  It  was  not  opened  for 
two  deals,  but  when  the  cards  came  to  Long 
Mike  in  turn,  Stumpy  was  fairly  amazed 
to  find  that  once  more  he  had  three  kings. 

It  did  not  look  right,  and  if  it  had  been 
Britton's  deal  he  would  have  hesitated  about 
playing  them,  but  Long  Mike  was  above 
suspicion,  so  he  opened  the  pot  with  cheerful 
confidence. 


THREE    KINGS 19 

Again  Britton  was  among  those  who  came 
in,  McCarthy  and  Long  Mike  both  finding 
enough  to  justify  a  play,  but  they  all  took 
three  excepting  Stumpy,  and  he  was  quite 
easy  in  his  mind  when  he  bet  two  dollars. 
Britton  was  the  only  one  to  call,  and  he  said, 
with  a  laugh: 

"  I've  a  notion  to  raise  you,  but  maybe  you 
have  them  three  kings  again." 

"  I  have,"  said  Stumpy,  and  scooped  the 
pot  again. 

They  all  stared,  but  Britton  was  the  only 
one  to  speak. 

"  If  I  was  you,"  he  said,  in  a  nasty  way, 
"  I  wouldn't  play  them  kings  so  frequent. 
You  might  get  beat  on  'em  next." 

Now  there  are  men  to  whom  a  remark  of 
this  sort  may  be  made  without  immediate 
trouble,  but  such  men  are  not  Irishmen  of 
the  peculiar  redness  as  to  hair  and  beard 
that  Stumpy  had.  He  flared  in  an  instant. 

"  Oi'll  play  thim  cards  whiniver  Oi  do  be 
gettin'  thim  to  play,"  he  said,  with  great 
heat.  "  An'  if  ony  gintleman  i'  th'  room, 
f'm  La  Crosse  or  any  other  place,  has  any- 


20 STAND    PAT 

thing    to    say,    Oi'd    loike    t'    hear   what    it 


is." 


"  Oh,  well,"  said  Britton,  "  I  said  what  I 
had  to  say.  It  don't  look  well  for  any  man 
to  hold  three  kings  all  the  time." 

"  Av  it's  a  question  o'  looks,"  said  Stumpy, 
very  coolly,  but  with  evident  wrath,  "  Oi 
don't  loike  th'  looks  o'  that  nose  you  do  be 
carryin'  round  wid  youse." 

Britton  looked  around,  but  seeing  that  no 
one  else  at  the  table  was  likely  to  side  with 
him  in  case  of  trouble,  he  controlled  himself 
with  an  effort. 

"  'Tain't  as  good-lookin'  as  I'd  like  to  have 
it,"  he  said,  with  a  forced  laugh,  "  but  it's 
the  only  one  —  " 

"  An'  Oi  do  be  thinkin',"  interrupted 
Stumpy,  "  it  ud  look  a  dom  sight  betther 
av  it  was  longer." 

"  Perhaps  it  would,"  said  Britton,  still 
reluctant  to  accept  the  quarrel,  "but  — " 

"  But  nothin',"  shouted  Stumpy,  reaching 
over  and  grasping  the  feature  he  had  men 
tioned.  "  Maybe  pullin'  it  a  little  moight 


. THREE    KINGS 21 

do  it  good."  And  he  gave  it  a  mighty 
tweak. 

Two  things  only  were  possible  after  that, 
in  Brownsville,  and  unfortunately  for  Mr. 
Britton  he  chose  the  wrong  one.  A  stand-up 
fight  with  nature's  weapons  would  have  es 
tablished  him  as  a  person  worthy  of  consid 
eration,  even  though  he  had  been  well  licked, 
but  he  was  not  in  the  habit  of  fighting  in  that 
fashion,  and  he  reached  for  his  gun. 

It  was  an  unlucky  movement.  Long  Mike 
sat  next  to  him,  and  as  they  all  rose  to  their 
feet  in  the  excitement,  the  big  man  seized 
him  by  the  wrist  and  the  neck,  and  shaking 
him  as  a  dog  shakes  a  rat,  he  exclaimed: 

"Ye'll  pull  no  gun  in  Brownsville,  ye 
double-jointed  spalpeen,  ye.  An*  ye'll  under- 
sthand  that  any  gintlemon  in  this  town  that 
wants  to  play  kings,  can  play  as  many  as  he 
loikes,  an'  as  often  as  he  loikes.  An'  the 
loikes  o'  yez  can  get  back  to  La  Crosse  whin 
ye  loike." 

And  after  he  had  shaken  Britton  suffi 
ciently,  he  threw  him  into  the  corner  of  the 
room. 


22 STAND    PAT 

When  the  stage-sleigh  was  well  out  on  the 
frozen  river  surface  next  day,  Jim  Bixby 
turned  to  his  passenger  and  said,  briefly: 

"  Them  fellers  in  Brownsville  kind  o' 
stands  by  each  other  most  generally." 

But  the  passenger  made  no  reply. 


Ill 

FINISH  OF  THE  ONE  -  EYED  MAN 

THE  one-eyed  man  sat  playing  solitaire  at 
a  table  in  the  extreme  rear  of  the  barroom. 
This  particular  room  was  not  the  only  place 
in  Brownsville  where  liquor  could  be  had 
by  those  bibulously  inclined,  for  whiskey  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  staples.  There  were 
few  of  the  citizens  of  the  place  who  allowed 
themselves  to  remain  destitute  of  a  domestic 
supply,  and  there  was  none  so  inhospitable 
as  to  refuse  to  share  what  he  had  with  even 
a  casual  passer-by  who  cared  to  stop,  but  the 
room  in  which  the  one-eyed  man  sat,  on  this 
occasion,  was  known  as  the  barroom. 
Brownsville  was  too  small  a  place  to  encour 
age  competition  unduly. 

There  was  the  usual  crowd  in  the  room, 
it  being  early  in  the  evening,  and  a  river 
boat  being  expected  soon.  It  was  not  every 

23 


24 STAND    PAT  

time  a  boat  arrived  that  anybody  came  ashore 
to  stay,  but  sometimes  it  happened  that  some 
body  would  do  so,  and,  even  if  it  didn't, 
there  was  usually  some  freight  to  be  landed, 
and  while  the  roustabouts  were  bringing  that 
off,  the  boat  would  have  to  stay. 

On  such  occasions,  the  barroom,  being 
handy  to  the  landing,  became  not  only  the 
social  centre  of  Brownsville,  but  also  the 
news  exchange  where  all  the  available  intel 
ligence  of  the  happenings  of  the  outside 
world  was  to  be  obtained.  It  was  not  that 
Brownsville  cared  specially  what  the  outside 
happenings  might  be,  or  might  not  be,  but 
there  was  more  or  less  excitement  to  be  had 
by  conversing  with  strangers  who  might 
stroll  ashore  for  even  a  few  minutes,  and 
Brownsville  craved  excitement. 

The  usual  crowd  was  unusually  noisy  this 
evening.  Long  Mike,  the  labour  contractor, 
who  had  organized  a  trust  in  handling  of 
freight,  and  owned  eight  mules,  representing 
a  goodly  proportion  of  his  accumulated  capi 
tal,  had  been  drinking  more  than  usual  ever 
since  the  landing  of  the  last  boat,  and,  after 


THE    ONE-EYED    MAN         25 

his  fashion  when  he  drank,  his  voice  was 
being  overworked.  Moreover,  the  small 
crowd  of  able-bodied  men  who  were  enjoy 
ing  his  hospitality  had  all  of  them  opinions 
of  their  own  which  they  were  anxious  to 
express,  and  so,  though  Sam,  the  bartender, 
was  a  man  of  few  words,  there  was  no  lack 
of  conversation. 

The  one-eyed  man  did  not  drink,  and  as 
there  was  an  ill-defined  popular  prejudice 
against  him,  partly  for  that  reason,  no  one 
paid  much  attention  to  him,  or  to  his  game 
of  solitaire. 

Suddenly  somebody  called  Long  Mike  a 
liar.  Opinions  differed  when  the  matter  was 
afterward  discussed,  as  to  who  the  person 
was.  Some  of  them  said  it  was  Stumpy,  but 
the  only  reason  why  they  thought  so,  as  they 
were  obliged  to  admit  when  the  statement 
was  questioned,  was  that  Stumpy  was  Irish 
and  also  red-headed,  and  a  red-headed  Irish 
man  was  always  liable  to  make  a  bad  break. 
Others  thought  that  Gallagher  had  spoken 
the  word,  and  this  seemed  more  probable, 
for  Gallagher  was  of  a  morose  temper  at 


26 STAND   PAT 

best,  and  utterly  reckless  when  in  his  cups. 
But  Gallagher  denied  it,  and  nobody  except 
ing  the  man  who  spoke  ever  knew  who  it 
was  that  uttered  the  word.  Several  persons 
were  talking  at  the  time,  but  there  was  no 
doubt  that  somebody  exclaimed,  "  You're  a 
liar!" 

At  the  word  the  one-eyed  man  disappeared 
under  the  table  at  which  he  had  been  play 
ing.  Had  the  door  been  nearer  to  him,  or 
had  there  been  a  window  in  the  rear  of  the 
room,  there  is  little  doubt  that  he  would  have 
gone  outside,  but  the  door  was  the  only  avail 
able  exit,  and  it  would  have  taken  two  or 
three  seconds  for  him  to  reach  that.  Two 
or  three  seconds  form  an  appreciable  interval 
of  time. 

The  tendency  of  most  persons  to  shoot  too 
high,  rather  than  too  low,  is  well  known  to 
everybody  who  has  had  experience  in  such 
matters,  and  the  course  of  action  pursued 
by  the  one-eyed  man  in  getting  under  the 
table  is  the  one  generally  approved.  He 
never  carried  a  gun  himself,  and  moreover, 
while  he  did  not  distinctly  approve  of  the  use 


THE    ONE-EYED   MAN         27 

of  the  expression  that  had  been  applied  to 
Long  Mike,  he  had  sufficient  sympathy  with 
the  thought  expressed  to  restrain  him  from 
any  impulse  toward  resenting  it  on  Mike's 
behalf. 

The  fusilade,  though  it  was  furious,  was 
brief.  Five  revolvers  were  emptied,  and  as 
three  of  them  were  seven-shooters,  while  the 
other  two  had  only  five  chambers  each,  it  was 
readily  reckoned  up  that  thirty-one  shots 
were  fired.  Considering  the  size  of  the 
room,  which  was  not  great,  and  the  fact  that 
there  were  fifteen  or  sixteen  persons  present, 
it  seemed  a  little  remarkable  that  no  one  was 
hurt,  but  after  the  first  volley  Sam  came  out 
from  behind  the  bar  and  interfered  gently, 
but  firmly,  with  Long  Mike,  who  was  trying 
in  a  fumbling  sort  of  way  to  reload  his  pistol. 

"  Put  that  away,"  said  Sam,  "  or  I'll  brain 
you  where  you  stand." 

Long  Mike  looked  at  him  and  then  at 
the  bung-starter  which  he  held  poised  ready 
for  use,  and  forthwith  put  his  pistol  back 
in  his  pocket.  Being  unable,  in  the  confusion 
of  words  which  followed,  to  determine  who 


28 STAND    PAT 

it  was  that  had  insulted  him,  he  burst  out 
crying  and  invited  all  hands  to  drink  at  his 
expense. 

There  was  a  prompt  response  to  the  in 
vitation  by  everybody  but  the  one-eyed  man, 
who  had  resumed  his  game  of  solitaire,  and 
Sam  was  juggling  his  glasses  with  his  usual 
skill  when  the  whistle  of  the  Rosa  Lee  was 
heard  from  the  river.  Three  minutes  later 
Sam  and  the  one-eyed  man  were  alone  in 
the  room. 

"  The  boys  is  pretty  lively  to-night,"  said 
Sam,  but  the  one-eyed  man  only  grunted. 

"  I  heer'd  Jim  Wharton  was  comin'  down 
the  river  this  week,"  said  Sam,  cheerfully 
insistent  upon  conversation.  "  'Twouldn't  be 
none  surprisin'  if  he  was  on  the  Rosa  Lee." 

The  one-eyed  man  grunted  again,  but  his 
eye  gleamed,  and  after  a  moment  he  said, 
slowly:  "Well,  he'll  find  me  ready  for 
him."  But  he  kept  on  playing  solitaire  as 
if  he  had  no  active  interest  in  anything  out 
side  of  his  game. 

Neither  did  he  seem  to  be  paying  atten 
tion  to  any  outside  happening,  when,  after 


THE    ONE-EYED   MAN         29 

the  noise  of  considerable  confusion  outdoors, 
the  crowd  came  straggling  back  into  the  bar 
room.  It  was  not  the  same  crowd,  for  the 
Rosa  Lee  had  brought  a  considerable  load 
of  freight,  and  Long  Mike,  though  insuffi 
ciently  sober  to  bear  himself  with  dignity 
in  social  affairs,  was  not  too  drunk  to  attend 
to  business,  and  he  remained  outside  attend 
ing  to  it.  Several  of  his  men,  who  had  been 
with  him  in  the  barroom  on  terms  of  equal 
ity,  were  now  working  for  dear  life  while 
he  stood  talking  to  them  with  all  the  em 
phasis  of  an  army  teamster  addressing  a 
balky  span  of  mules. 

There  were  several  strangers  in  the  in 
coming  party,  though,  and  the  room  was 
even  more  crowded  than  before.  The  boat 
was  not  likely  to  start  again  for  an  hour 
or  more,  and  a  number  of  passengers  were 
stretching  their  legs.  Among  the  newcomers 
was  a  tall,  swarthy  fellow  who  swaggered 
like  a  lumberman,  but  was  dressed  like  a 
dandy,  and  who  looked  around  as  he  entered 
as  if  in  search  of  some  familiar  face.  With 
him  were  three  others,  as  well  dressed  as  he, 


30 STAND   PAT 

but  all  of  them  having  the  indescribable 
appearance  and  manner  which  marked  them 
as  "professional  sports"  — in  other  words, 
gamblers  —  and  all  being  of  the  type  that 
was  common  along  the  Mississippi  River 
years  ago. 

The  one-eyed  man  did  not  look  up,  but 
he  showed  no  mark  of  surprise  when  the  tall 
stranger,  having  first  called  for  a  bottle  of 
wine,  which  he  shared  with  his  three  com 
panions,  left  them  standing  at  the  bar  and 
strolled  over  toward  the  card-table. 

"  Howd'ye,  George,"  he  said,  quietly 
enough,  but  with  a  curious  suggestion  of 
inquiry  in  his  tone. 

"  Howd'ye,  Jim,"  was  the  one-eyed  man's 
response. 

He  did  not  even  look  up  from  his  game, 
and  so  far  as  his  voice  or  manner  indicated, 
he  was  utterly  indifferent  to  the  fact  of  the 
other  man's  presence.  He  kept  on  laying 
down  the  cards  with  no  show  of  emotion  of 
any  kind,  but  a  close  observer  might  have 
noticed  that  he  made  two  mistakes  in  his  play 
during  the  short  while  that  the  other  stood 


THE    ONE-EYED   MAN         31 

looking  on  in  silence.    Presumably  the  other 
was  a  close  observer.     Gamblers  mostly  are. 
Presently  the  newcomer  spoke  again: 
"  Bygones  is  bygones,  ain't  they,  George?  " 
he  said. 

'Yes,"  said  the  player,  for  the  first  time 
looking  straight  at  his  questioner,  and  speak 
ing  very  slowly.  "  Yes,  I  reckon  bygones 
is  bygones.  Anyway,  my  eye  is  gone." 

"Well,  it  was  a  fair  fight,  George?"  said 
the  tall  man. 

'  Yes,  it  was  a  fair  enough  fight,"  said  the 
one-eyed  man.  "  If  it  hadn't  been,  I'd  ha' 
looked  you  up  an'  killed  you,  'fore  now." 

"So  I  reckon,"  said  Wharton;  "you  was 
always  quick  for  a  fight,  George,  an'  I  don't 
remember  as  I  ever  shirked  one  that  was 
coming  my  way,  did  I?" 

"No,  that's  right  enough,"  said  the  one- 
eyed  man,  indifferently.  Then  there  was 
another  silence  and  the  one-eyed  man  re 
sumed  his  game.  Presently  Wharton  spoke 
again. 

"Well,"  he  said,  "I  reckon  there's  no 
grudge  between  us  on  account  of  the  fight. 


32 STAND    PAT          

You  talk  fair  enough,  an'  I  hain't  nothin' 
to  say,  but  there's  another  thing  that  ain't 
settled.  What  do  you  say  to  that?  " 

"What  is  it?"  asked  the  one-eyed  man, 
shortly. 

"  There's  a  matter  o'  seven  hundred  dollars 
o'  mine  that  you  got  away  with  in  that  last 
game.  I  called  your  play  crooked  an'  I 
couldn't  prove  it,  so  I  don't  hold  it  against 
you  that  you  pulled  a  knife,  but  I  want  that 
money.  I  hain't  fool  enough  to  think  you're 
goin'  to  hand  it  over,  but  I'll  play  you  a 
freeze-out  for  one  thousand  dollars  right 
now.  If  I  lose,  I'll  take  back  what  I  said 
an'  couldn't  prove.  If  I  win  I'm  satisfied. 
But  God  help  you  if  you  don't  play  straight 
an'  I  do  catch  you." 

"  That  kind  o'  talk  is  cheap,"  said  the  one- 
eyed  man,  contemptuously.  "  I  don't  reckon 
the  Almighty's  goin'  to  help  anybody  much 
if  he's  caught  cheatin'  along  the  Mississippi 
River,  but  you  can  say  your  prayers  now, 
Jim  Wharton,  if  you  think  o'  makin'  any 
breaks  at  me,  like  you  did  once.  I'll  play 
you  the  freeze-out,  an'  what's  more,  I'll  win 


THE    ONE-EYED   MAN         33 

your  money  unless  you've  learned  to  play 
poker  since  I  seen  you  last.  If  it's  play,  I'll 
play  you,  an'  if  it's  fight,  I'll  fight  you  to 
the  finish." 

Neither  man  had  raised  his  voice;  they 
were  too  much  in  earnest  for  that.  So  no 
one  in  the  room  had  seemed  to  pay  attention 
to  them.  When  the  one-eyed  man  called  to 
Sam,  however,  to  bring  him  cards  and  chips 
for  the  game,  a  number  of  bystanders  came 
up  to  look  on,  and  among  them  were  the 
three  men  who  came  in  with  Wharton.  A 
looker-on  might  have  thought  that  they  were 
expecting  an  invitation  to  join  the  game,  but 
none  was  given,  and  they  said  nothing. 

The  chips  were  counted  out,  the  two  thou 
sand  dollars  placed  in  Sam's  hands  as  pay 
ment,  and  the  new  deck  of  cards  ripped  open 
and  shuffled,  and  the  two  men  cut  for  the 
deal,  which  fell  to  Wharton. 

It  was  a  fruitless  deal,  for,  finding  nothing 
in  his  hand,  he  threw  in  a  red  chip  to  cover 
the  two  white  ones  that  the  one-eyed  man 
had  anted,  and  declared  a  jack-pot.  The 
one-eyed  man  made  good  and  took  the  cards. 


34 STAND   PAT 

As  he  shuffled  and  dealt  them,  the  other 
watched  him  keenly,  but  evidently  saw  noth 
ing  wrong,  though  it  was  impossible  not  to 
see,  from  the  way  his  ringers  moved,  that  he 
was  dexterous  to  a  degree  in  their  use. 

In  four  or  five  hands  neither  man  held 
openers.  Then  Wharton  caught  aces,  opened 
the  pot,  and  took  it  down,  the  one-eyed  man 
having  nothing. 

"  Your  first  pot.  It's  a  bad  sign  for  you, 
Jim,"  he  said,  jeeringly. 

"  All  right,"  said  Wharton,  "  I'll  take  all 
the  pots  that  come.  The  first  is  as  good  as 
any." 

But  for  the  next  twenty  minutes  it  almost 
seemed  that  the  superstition  was  to  be  up 
held.  Wharton  won  no  more,  and  the  one- 
eyed  man  was  four  hundred  dollars  ahead 
when  there  came  a  struggle  on  Wharton's 
deal. 

Catching  two  pairs,  he  made  it  ten  dollars 
to  play,  and  the  one-eyed  man  promptly 
raised  it  ten.  Wharton  made  good  and  the 
one-eyed  man  drew  two  cards. 

It  was  evident  enough  that  he  had  threes, 


THE    ONE  -  EYED   MAN         35 

having  raised  back  before  the  draw,  so 
Wharton,  instead  of  standing  pat,  as  he  had 
thought  of  doing,  took  one.  It  proved  to 
be  a  jack  to  his  jacks  up,  and,  as  afterward 
appeared,  the  one-eyed  man  got  a  pair  with 
his  three  sevens. 

It  was  Wharton's  bet  and  he  put  up  a 
hundred  dollars. 

"  As  much  more  as  you  have,"  said  the 
one-eyed  man,  pushing  his  blue  chips  for 
ward. 

"  I  call  you,"  said  Wharton,  and  they 
counted  the  piles.  Wharton  had  almost  six 
hundred  left,  so  the  show-down  put  him 
ahead  in  the  game. 

"  Good  dealing,"  said  the  one-eyed  man, 
coolly,  as  he  picked  up  the  deck,  but  Whar 
ton  made  no  answer.  Instead,  he  watched 
the  deal  more  narrowly  than  ever.  Some 
thing  he  saw  seemed  to  interest  him  greatly. 

The  one-eyed  man  bet  after  the  draw,  but 
Wharton  refused  to  see  him,  and  he  scooped 
the  pot.  Then  Wharton  took  the  cards. 

Running  them  over  rapidly,  face  down, 
he  threw  three  cards  to  one  side.  Then,  pick- 


36 STAND    PAT 

ing  up  the  three,  he  examined  their  backs 
carefully  and  exclaimed  with  an  oath :  "  By 
the  marks  on  them  I  reckon  they're  all  alike. 
Maybe  they're  aces." 

It  was  done  as  quickly  as  lightning  flashes, 
and  he  threw  down  the  three  cards,  face  up, 
before  any  one  had  fairly  realized  what  he 
was  doing.  They  were  all  aces. 

Both  men  sprang  to  their  feet  on  the  in 
stant,  and  as  they  rose  Wharton  drew  a  re 
volver  and  the  one-eyed  man  a  knife. 

The  revolver  spoke  as  the  man  with  the 
knife  rushed  around  the  table,  and,  with  a 
yell,  he  stumbled  forward,  stabbing  viciously 
at  the  other  as  he  fell  on  the  floor.  Whar 
ton  dodged  quickly,  but  not  quickly  enough 
to  avoid  a  bad  cut  in  the  arm,  and  shifting 
his  pistol  to  his  left  hand,  he  stood  ready 
to  shoot  again. 

There  was  no  need,  however,  of  another 
shot 


IV 

LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER 

BROWNSVILLE  was  disturbed.  It  can 
hardly  be  said  that  the  industries  of  the 
place  were  interrupted,  for  there  were  no 
industries  in  Brownsville  that  were  liable 
to  interruption,  except  at  such  times  as  one 
of  the  river  steamboats  was  lying  at  the 
levee,  either  loading  or  unloading. 

Outside  of  Brownsville  the  prairie 
stretched  indefinitely  to  the  north,  west,  and 
south,  and  there  were  persons  who  culti 
vated  the  soil  with  a  minimum  of  labour  and 
obtained  a  maximum  of  results,  and  so  far 
as  planting,  harvesting,  and  marketing  the 
products  constituted  an  industry,  these  per 
sons  were  industrious. 

Inside  the  town,  people  mostly  sat  around. 
Except,  as  aforesaid,  when  there  was  a  boat 
at  the  levee. 

37 


38 STAND    PAT 

To  a  stranger  no  visible  signs  of  disturb 
ance  would  have  been  apparent.  Looking 
up  and  down  the  long  street  that  constituted 
the  main  portion  of  Brownsville,  he  might 
have  noticed  that  there  were  no  women  to 
be  seen,  but  the  feminine  fraction  of  the 
population,  insignificant  in  number,  was  at 
no  time  obtrusive. 

Such  social  functions  as  were  in  vogue 
with  the  female  sex  consisted  mostly  of  long- 
range  conversations  between  women  who 
stood,  each  at  her  own  door,  or  leaned  out, 
each  at  her  own  window.  And  the  subject- 
matter  of  these  conversations  would  have 
been  totally  devoid  of  interest  to  the  stran 
ger. 

At  the  moment  when  the  action  of  this 
tale  was  about  to  begin,  there  was  no  sound 
of  conversation,  nor  appearance  of  a  petti 
coat.  There  was,  instead,  an  ominous  hush, 
though  the  stranger  might  not  have  recog 
nized  the  omen. 

It  was  yet  early  in  the  forenoon,  and  the 
only  interruption  to  the  unwonted  silence  of 
the  morning  had  come  from  a  crash  in  Long 


LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER    39 

Mike's  house  half-way  up  the  street.  It  was 
such  a  noise  as  might  have  been  made  by  an 
angry  man  who  should  survey  his  break 
fast-table,  and,  finding  nothing  on  it  to  his 
liking,  should  upset  it  with  such  violence 
as  to  send  some  of  the  dishes  against  the  walls 
of  the  room  and  others  through  the  front 
window. 

The  strained  attention  of  Brownsville  had 
caught  no  further  sound  for  half  an  hour, 
and  though  at  every  other  door  but  his  and 
one  other,  men  stood  as  if  prepared  for  ob 
servation  or  action,  as  the  case  might  be,  they 
had  heard  nothing  further,  nor  seen  any 
thing. 

Suddenly  Long  Mike's  door  flew  open. 
What  force  impelled  it  cannot  be  stated 
positively,  but  Stumpy,  whose  house  was 
almost  opposite,  saw  the  recumbent  figure 
of  a  man  several  feet  back  from  the  door 
way,  where  it  might  have  fallen  after  an 
energetic  kick  and  a  sudden  recoil. 

Slowly  and  with  evident  effort  the  man 
arose  to  his  feet,  and  after  some  minutes 
stepped  uncertainly  forward.  Steadying 


40 STAND    PAT 

himself  by  the  lintels,  he  gazed  out,  as  if 
dubious  of  the  result  of  further  effort. 

Up  and  down  the  street  he  looked  for  a 
long  time,  with  as  much  earnestness  as  was 
compatible  with  a  confusion  of  ideas  that 
seemed  to  be  buzzing  around  his  head,  seek 
ing  entrance  as  bees  might  endeavour  to 
enter  a  sealed  hive. 

Presently  his  eyes  fell  on  the  one  doorway, 
not  far  from  his  own,  where  no  man  stood. 
The  faces  he  saw  at  the  other  doors  were  all 
mistily  familiar  to  him,  but  he  gave  no  sign 
of  recognition,  and  no  man  spoke  to  him. 
The  alert  but  motionless  figures  might  have 
been  graven  images,  so  far  as  any  emo 
tion  could  be  detected,  and  they  stirred  him 
not. 

But  the  empty  doorway  fixed  his  unsteady 
look.  His  eye  cleared,  and  with  a  mighty 
lurch  he  sallied  forth,  saying  nothing  when 
he  started  but  gurgitating  violently  as  he 
strove  to  arouse  his  vocal  organs  to  action. 

"Mother  of  Moses!"  muttered  Stumpy, 
grimly  observant.  "  He's  lookin'  for  Gal 
lagher.  Now  if  Gallagher  was  home  what 


LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER    41 

a  broth  of  a  shindy  there'd  be!  Saints  be! 
but  it's  good  he's  took  a  sneak." 

Deviously,  and  with  many  pauses  and  new 
starts,  Long  Mike  made  his  way  toward  Gal 
lagher's  house.  Arriving  in  front  of  it  he 
paused,  and  cleared  his  throat  with  a  yell, 
the  like  of  which  Brownsville  had  never 
heard,  save  from  the  exhaust-pipe  of  some 
steamboat. 

Following  this  came  a  monstrous  cataract 
of  vituperation,  Homeric  in  strength,  Gar 
gantuan  in  explicit  epithets,  shameless  in 
profanity,  and  seemingly  endless  in  contin 
uance,  but  bibulously  uncertain  as  to  its  ex 
act  purport.  The  general  tenor  of  it  seemed 
to  indicate  a  strong  desire  for  a  personal 
encounter  with  one  Gallagher. 

When,  after  a  long  period  of  this,  silence 
ensued,  Long  Mike  waited  for  awhile,  but 
no  answer  came.  The  door  remained  closed, 
and  no  sign  of  life  came  from  within. 
Standing  forward  at  length,  he  raised  his 
foot,  and  Gallagher's  door  flew  in. 

"Glory  be!"  muttered  Stumpy  again, 
"  it's  little  use  he  has  for  latches  and  locks 


42 STAND   PAT 

the   mornin'.     And   it's   little    good    Galla- 
gher'll  get  of  his  furniture  from  now." 

This  last  statement  was  undeniably  true, 
for  Long  Mike,  finding  no  living  being  in 
the  house,  seized  a  chair  and  painstakingly 
demolished  everything  destructible  on  the 
premises.  Then  he  came  out,  and  after 
whooping  wildly  a  few  times  at  the  utter 
most  pitch  of  his  powerful  voice,  made  his 
way  slowly  and  crookedly  to  the  barroom. 
And  after  him,  one  by  one,  the  heads  of  the 
households  in  Brownsville  came  slowly. 

Now  Gallagher,  as  all  Brownsville  knew, 
was  Long  Mike's  foreman,  and  Long  Mike's 
ownership  of  all  the  mules  in  Brownsville 
was  hardly  more  absolute  than  his  proprie 
torship  in  all  the  available  human  labour  of 
the  place,  and,  moreover,  the  imperious  char 
acter  that  had  enabled  him  to  conquer  his 
position  in  the  community  made  him  its  auto 
crat. 

The  reflected  glory  of  such  a  man,  to  be 
enjoyed  by  one  fortunate  enough  to  be  his 
foreman,  would  be  enough  for  any  ordinary 
person,  but  Gallagher  was  not  ordinary. 


LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER    43 

Debarred  by  nature  from  the  possibility  of 
attaining  the  highest  eminence,  he  was  still 
covetous  of  distinction,  and  the  satisfaction 
he  derived  from  the  hearty  hatred  of  the 
men  he  tyrannized  over,  was  poisoned  by 
the  reflection  that  the  good-natured  giant 
who  tyrannized  over  him  held  him  in  con 
tempt. 

Because  of  these  things  there  was  frequent 
friction  between  the  two.  Gallagher  could 
extract  more  work  from  a  mule  or  a  man 
than  any  one  else,  and  Long  Mike  valued 
him  accordingly.  Nevertheless,  there  were 
times  when  the  foreman's  unruly  tongue 
would  so  stir  up  the  temper  of  his  employer 
as  to  secure  his  immediate  discharge.  Hav 
ing  little  confidence  in  anything  that  Long 
Mike  said,  Gallagher  would  proceed  with 
his  work,  serenely  indifferent  to  his  dismissal, 
and  would  collect  his  wages  as  usual  at  the 
close  of  the  week. 

It  had  happened,  however,  that  ever  since 
the  night  when  the  one-eyed  man  had  sud 
denly  perished  in  a  controversy  with  one 
Wharton,  which  controversy  touched  on 


44 STAND    PAT 

points  of  etiquette  appertaining  to  the  game 
of  draw-poker,  Long  Mike  had  been  unable 
to  steady  his  nerves,  despite  his  persistent 
efforts  to  do  so  by  a  liberal  use  of  the  one 
specific  in  which  he  had  faith.  Being  un 
usually  irritable,  therefore,  he  had  resented 
Gallagher's  latest  impertinence  more  bitterly 
than  usual,  and,  in  addition  to  discharging 
him,  had  attempted  also  to  kill  him. 

This  he  would  undoubtedly  have  suc 
ceeded  in  doing  with  his  bare  hands,  for  he 
had  the  strength  of  seven  men,  but,  fortu 
nately  for  the  foreman,  there  was  consider 
able  uncertainty  in  his  movements,  and  his 
intended  victim  had  eluded  him  by  a  quick 
movement  which  was  continued  in  a  pan 
icky  flight.  The  flight  had  taken  him  across 
the  gangplank  of  the  Pride  of  the  River,  just 
as  the  deck-hands  were  hauling  it  aboard, 
and  he  had  gone  down  the  river  on  the  boat, 
a  fact  not  yet  known  to  his  employer. 

There  was  a  Mrs.  Gallagher,  but  she  had 
found  refuge  with  a  sympathetic  neighbour, 
and  took  no  part  in  the  events  of  the  day. 

In  the  barroom  there  was  an  atmosphere 


LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER    45 

of  doubtful  expectancy.  Just  what  Long 
Mike  would  do  when  he  found  his  rage 
balked  in  the  direction  of  Gallagher,  no  one 
could  tell,  and  in  truth  none  was  anxious 
to  see.  The  consequences  of  any  fresh  acces 
sion  of  fury  might  be  decidedly  unpleas 
ant. 

It  was  therefore  with  considerable  anxi 
ety  that  the  crowd  listened  for  Sam's  answer, 
Sam  being  the  bartender,  when  Long  Mike 
questioned  him. 

"Where  is  that  man  Gallagher?"  he  de 
manded,  thickly. 

"  I'm  lookin'  for  him  every  minute,"  said 
Sam,  in  a  matter-of-fact  way,  as  he  placed 
bottles  and  glasses  on  the  bar.  No  order 
had  been  given,  but  Long  Mike's  ways  were 
known,  and  a  round  of  drinks  at  his  expense 
seemed  to  be  an  appropriate  ceremony. 

The  due  performance  of  this  engrossed  the 
general  attention  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then 
Long  Mike  again  demanded  to  know  where 
Gallagher  was. 

"  I'm  lookin'  for  him  every  minute,"  said 
Sam  in  the  same  tone  as  before.  And  to  the 


46 STAND   PAT 

same  question,  repeated  at  irregular  inter 
vals  for  the  next  quarter  of  an  hour,  he  re 
plied  in  the  same  words. 

After  each  answer  Long  Mike  stood,  ap 
parently  satisfied,  looking  as  steadily  as  he 
was  able  to  do  toward  the  door,  with  the 
evident  expectation  of  seeing  his  foe  appear, 
but  abstaining  from  speech.  Slowly,  how 
ever,  he  seemed  to  gather  the  idea  that  he 
was  being  trifled  with,  and  presently  he  said, 
with  a  violent  hiccough: 

"Where  is  that  man  Gallagher?" 

"  I'm  lookin'  for  him  every  minute,"  said 
Sam,  imperturbably. 

Long  Mike  turned  and  look  at  him  with 
a  scowl. 

"  Ye  said  that  before,"  he  exclaimed. 

"  I  was  lookin'  for  him  before,"  said  Sam. 

This  seemed  to  divert  the  big  man's  mind 
to  a  new  channel  of  thought,  and  he  pon 
dered  it  awhile,  uncertain  whether  to  laugh 
or  be  angry. 

At  length  he  leaned  over  the  bar  and 
shook  a  huge  forefinger  in  Sam's  face. 

"  You're  a  fool,"  he  said,  and  glared. 


LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER    47 

Sam  made  no  reply,  but  Stumpy,  judging 
that  something  must  be  done,  interposed: 

"  Ye'll  all  have  a  drink  with  me,"  he  said. 

Ordinarily  this  form  of  speech  was  un 
challenged  by  any  critic  in  Brownsville,  and 
Long  Mike  was  possibly  the  one  citizen  least 
likely  to  offer  any  objection,  but  on  this 
occasion  he  turned  to  the  speaker,  and,  shak 
ing  his  forefinger  at  him,  exclaimed  again: 

"  You're  a  fool." 

Stumpy  stepped  back  a  little.  Long  Mike 
faced  the  crowd  and  said  with  additional 
emphasis: 

"You're  all  fools."  Then  he  broke  out 
with  a  roar  of  fury.  "  Will  ye  tell  me  where 
is  that  man  Gallagher?  "  but  no  man  dared 
make  answer. 

"  In  just  about  a  minute,  now,"  said  Joe 
Thorp  in  an  undertone  to  his  nearest  neigh 
bour,  "  there'll  be  a  ten-acre  fight  in  this  here 
barroom  if  nothin'  ain't  done  to  get  the  old 
man's  mind  off'n  Gallagher." 

"  I  reckon  you're  about  right,"  replied  Jim 
Hunnewell,  "  but  there  ain't  nobody  here 
as  cares  about  fightin'  'cept  him.  An'  when 


48 STAND    PAT 

he's  loaded,  he'd  a  heap  rather  fight  than 
do  anything  else,  'thouten  it's  play  poker." 

"  That's  the  idee,"  exclaimed  Thorp, 
struck  with  an  inspiration.  Then,  raising 
his  voice,  he  continued:  "Who'll  play  a 
game  of  poker?  Speak  up,  quick,  you 
chump,"  he  whispered,  and  Hunnewell 
spoke. 

"  I  will,"  he  said,  eagerly. 

"  And  I,"  "  And  I,"  "  And  I,"  said  Baxter 
and  Wilson  and  Cosgrove  almost  as  quickly. 
They  had  caught  the  whispered  words,  and 
appreciated  the  emergency. 

"  Give  us  the  chips,  Sam,"  called  Thorp, 
bustling  toward  the  card-table  in  the  rear 
of  the  room.  "  Will  you  take  a  hand, 
Mike?"  he  added,  carelessly,  as  the  others 
followed  him  with  more  noise  than  seemed 
necessary. 

Long  Mike  considered  the  matter  for  a 
moment,  but,  finding  that  he  no  longer  held 
public  attention,  he  wavered  and  then  said: 

"  I  will." 

"  It's  like  picking  his  pockets,"  said  Cos- 
grove,  with  some  compunction,  as  they  all 


LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER    49 

took  their  seats.  Even  in  Brownsville  the 
code  prohibits  playing  with  a  man  who  is 
hopelessly  drunk  if  he  happens  to  be  your 
neighbour  and  friend. 

"  Isn't  it  better  than  to  have  him  kill  some 
body  before  he  sobers  up?"  said  Thorp, 
and  the  argument  was  sufficient  for  all  of 
them. 

But  the  picking  of  Long  Mike's  pockets 
did  not  proceed  with  any  alarming  speed. 
They  played  the  usual  game,  table  stakes, 
and  each  man  took  five  dollars  in  chips  at 
the  start.  The  first  pot  was  a  jack. 

Cosgrove  dealt.  Thorp  passed.  Baxter 
passed.  Wilson  opened  it  for  a  dollar  and 
a  half.  Hunnewell  threw  down.  Long 
Mike  raised  it  two  dollars.  Cosgrove  stayed. 
Thorp  stayed  and  Wilson  stayed. 

When  they  came  to  draw  cards,  Thorp 
took  one,  Wilson  took  two,  and  Long  Mike 
was  found  to  be  fast  asleep.  They  roused 
him  with  some  difficulty,  and  after  scan 
ning  his  cards  with  every  appearance  of  dis 
satisfaction,  he  called  for  four.  Cosgrove 
took  three. 


£0 STAND   PAT 

Wilson  bet  a  white  chip.  Long  Mike 
chipped.  Cosgrove  shoved  in  his  pile,  hav 
ing  caught  a  third  ace.  The  others  all 
stayed,  and  Wilson  showed  three  tens. 
Thorp  had  a  small  straight,  and  Long  Mike 
had  a  king-high  flush. 

It  was  quick  action  and  called  for  another 
jack.  As  three  of  the  conspirators  bought 
more  chips,  they  consoled  themselves  as  well 
as  they  could  with  the  thought  that  sheer 
luck  like  that  seldom  comes  to  one  player 
frequently  in  one  sitting. 

This  time  Baxter  opened  it  under  the  guns. 
Wilson  passed.  Hunnewell  raised  it  one 
dollar  on  a  small  straight.  Long  Mike 
stayed  on  a  pair  of  deuces.  Cosgrove  and 
Thorp  laid  down  and  Baxter  saw  the  raise, 
having  kings  up. 

In  the  draw  Long  Mike  caught  the  three 
aces  Cosgrove  had  had  the  deal  before. 
After  Baxter  and  Hunnewell  had  bought 
again,  there  was  fifty-five  dollars  on  the 
table,  of  which  over  thirty  was  in  Long 
Mike's  pile. 

In  the  next  deal  he  caught  nothing  and 


LOOKING  FOR  GALLAGHER    51 

promptly  went  to  sleep  again.  They  woke 
him  up  in  time  to  look  at  his  next  hand, 
and  that  failed  also  to  interest  him.  In  the 
following  deal,  however,  he  caught  three 
sevens. 

It  had  been  his  ante,  and  the  money  had 
been  put  up  out  of  his  pile  without  waking 
him,  but  even  under  existing  circumstances 
no  one  cared  to  go  so  far  as  to  play  his 
hand  for  him,  the  more  especially  as  they 
all  had  pretty  good  cards  and  saw  his  raise 
when  he  made  it  two  dollars  to  play. 

Catching  the  fourth  seven  in  the  draw, 
he  made  good  on  two  raises  that  had  been 
made  before  it  came  to  him,  and  threw  in 
five  dollars  more.  Thorp  and  Wilson  both 
called  for  their  piles,  one  having  a  flush  and 
the  other  a  full. 

Just  what  might  have  happened  in  a  few 
hands  more  it  is  impossible  to  say,  for  the 
whistle  of  the  Prairie  Belle  startled  the 
crowd  as  she  steamed  up  to  the  levee,  and 
Long  Mike  staggered  to  his  feet,  stuffing  his 
winnings  in  his  pockets  as  he  rose.  Neither 


52 STAND   PAT 

whiskey  nor  poker  was  potent  to  hold  him 
when  there  was  business  to  be  done. 

As  he  stepped  unsteadily  into  the  open 
air,  Sam  heard  him  asking  of  the  wide,  wide 
world,  "  Where  is  that  man  Gallagher?  " 


STUMPY'S  DILEMMA 

THE  only  thing  stirring  on  the  levee  at 
Brownsville  on  Sunday  morning,  usually, 
was  a  small  dog  belonging  to  Stumpy.  It 
was  of  record  that  when  Stumpy  arrived 
at  Brownsville  with  his  dog  Peter,  bringing 
their  entire  earthly  possessions  wrapped  in 
a  large  red  handkerchief,  Peter  came  across 
the  gangplank  first,  being  in  hot  pursuit  of 
a  rat.  The  rat  escaped,  finding  its  way  into 
a  crevice  near  the  edge  of  the  water,  and  the 
most  of  Peter's  spare  time  for  the  two  years 
that  had  elapsed  since  then  had  been  spent 
near  that  crevice.  No  sign  of  the  rat  had 
ever  been  discovered,  but  Peter's  faith  was 
abiding. 

It  was  possibly  characteristic  of  the  breed 
of  Peter,  which  was  considered  in  Browns 
ville  to  be  some  sort  of  terrier  —  and  it  was 

63 


54 STAND    PAT 

certainly  characteristic  of  Peter  that  he  did 
not  sit  down  by  the  crevice  to  watch  for  that 
rat,  but  ran  back  and  forth  continually,  bark 
ing,  meanwhile,  with  cheerful  disregard  of 
the  effort  involved.  He  did  not  wag  his  tail, 
being  possessed  of  a  totally  insufficient 
amount  of  tail  to  be  wagged.  "  Sure  his  tail 
was  never  cut  off,"  Stumpy  used  to  say,  "  it 
was  drove  in."  But  he  wagged  the  entire 
hinder  portion  of  his  body,  as  he  ran,  with 
an  enthusiasm  that  frequently  sent  two  of 
his  legs  high  in  the  air. 

While  he  was  engaged  in  this  fashion  one 
otherwise  peaceful  Sabbath  day,  his  master 
appeared  in  view,  and  the  two  were  soon  in 
conversation. 

"  Thim  two  spalpeens  that  kim  off  the  boat 
last  night,  I'm  thinkin',  is  goin'  to  do  up  the 
town,  I  do'  know,"  said  Stumpy,  whose  habit 
it  was  to  discuss  matters  with  Peter  when  he 
found  them  too  difficult  to  understand  easily. 

Peter  looked  at  him  anxiously,  but  finding 
that  Stumpy  had  paused  for  reflection,  he 
barked  once,  and  waited. 

"That's   just   it,"    said    Stumpy,    eagerly. 


STUMPY'S   DILEMMA  55 

"The  divil's  own  cousin  cudn't  tell  if  they 
was  Mormon  missionaries  or  retail  grocers  on 
a  holiday  trip.  If  it  was  down  the  river, 
now,  they'd  be  cotton  factors  maybe,  but 
whhat'd  a  cotton  factor  be  doin'  in  Browns 
ville,  I  do'  know.  An'  the  drink!  Glory 
be,  but  they're  divils  for  drink.  An'  Long 
Mike  on'y  a  week  after  the  last  wan." 

This  last  remark  called  for  no  explana 
tion  in  Brownsville,  where  Long  Mike's 
sprees  were  events  in  municipal  history. 
Peter  whined  lugubriously. 

"  An'  it's  right  ye  are,  Peter,"  said  Stumpy. 
"  If  he  starts  in  again  now  there'll  be  an  end. 
Didn't  he  wipe  out  Gallagher's  place  from 
door  to  door,  wid  the  glory  o'  drink  in  him, 
two  weeks  ago?  It's  none  too  peaceful  at 
the  best,  that  Brownsville  is,  but  wid  him 
drunk  it's  hell.  An'  it's  drunk  he'll  be  again 
if  thim  two  strangers  stays.  An'  I  do  be 
thinkin',  Peter,  that  if  he's  drunk  again  afore 
the  change  o'  the  moon,  he'll  sober  up  in  the 
life  everlastin'." 

At  this  Peter  howled  long  and  loud,  and 
Stumpy  lapsed  into  silence. 


56 STAND   PAT 

To  them  presently  appeared  Sam.  The 
exigencies  of  business  required  Sam's  pres 
ence  in  the  barroom,  as  a  usual  thing,  regard 
less  of  the  day,  or  time  of  day,  he  being 
the  only  dispenser  of  potable  necessities  in 
Brownsville,  but  the  stress  of  Saturday  nights 
was  commonly  followed  by  an  interval  of 
calm  on  Sabbath  mornings,  and  his  custom 
was  to  go  abroad  for  air  on  those  occasions. 

Seating  himself  on  a  piece  of  driftwood, 
he  chewed  the  end  of  his  cigar  for  a  time, 
and  then  observed:  "  It  was  a  large  night." 

"  It  was,"  said  Stumpy.  "  Is  thim  two 
strangers  stayin'  here  long,  I  don't  know?  " 
Stumpy's  brogue  defied  spelling. 

"  They'll  be  dead  if  they  do,"  said  Sam. 
"  I've  saw  wild  men  afore,  but  I  never  seen 
two  men  try  to  pull  up  the  Mississippi  River 
by  the  roots." 

"  If  it  was  thim  'ud  die,"  said  Stumpy, 
gloomily.  "  An'  Hennessy.  We  c'd  do  wid- 
out  Hennessy  an'  wan  or  more  others.  But 
I  do  be  thinkin'  Long  Mike  is  off  again." 

"  Looks  like  it,"  said  Sam. 

Just  then  the  report  of  a  pistol-shot  rang 


JUST    THEN    THE    REPORT    OF    A    PISTOL-SHOT    RANG    OUT.' 


STUMPY'S   DILEMMA  57 

out,  and  Peter  leaped  in  the  air.  He  was  not 
hurt,  but  the  bullet  had  struck  between  his 
fore  paws,  and  he  was  frightened. 

Stumpy  turned  like  a  flash.  The  two 
strangers  were  approaching,  laughing  heart 
ily,  and  one  of  them  was  about  to  shoot 
again.  Stumpy  was  a  small  man,  probably 
a  foot  shorter  than  either  of  the  newcomers, 
but  his  hair  was  very  red.  He  sprang  to  his 
feet 

"  That's  my  dog,"  he  said,  pulling  off  his 
coat,  and  the  man  who  was  poising  his  re 
volver  lowered  it. 

"  No  offence,  friend,"  he  said,  pleasantly. 
"  I  just  wanted  to  see  the  dog  dance." 

"  Dance,  is  it?  "  shouted  Stumpy,  in  a  fine 
rage.  "  That  dog's  no  circus.  If  it's  dancin' 
ye  want,  I'll  dance,  but  it's  on  your  ugly  face 
it'll  be,  wid  you  on  the  flat  o'  your  back." 
And  he  squared  off  in  excellent  style. 

"  There,  there,"  said  the  big  man,  sooth 
ingly,  "  I'll  not  fight  you,  and  I'll  not  bother 
your  dog,  if  it's  yours.  Come  and  have  a 
drink." 

It  was  not  easy  to  placate  the  little  Irish- 


58 STAND   PAT 

man,  but  the  two  strangers  finally  accom 
plished  it,  and  the  entire  party  went  over  to 
the  barroom.  Peter,  however,  refused  to 
enter  the  place,  and  showed  his  teeth  vi 
ciously  when  the  sportive  pistol-player, 
whose  name  was  Carruthers,  offered  to  pat 
his  head  by  way  of  apology. 

As  the  day  wore  on,  the  male  population 
of  Brownsville,  one  by  one,  appeared  in  the 
barroom,  and  Carruthers  and  his  mate,  Hop 
per,  played  the  part  of  hosts  with  great 
assiduity,  so  that  the  general  condition  of 
hilarity  that  had  prevailed  on  Saturday 
night,  but  which  had  been  greatly  modified 
in  the  early  morning  hours,  was  fully  rees 
tablished  before  nightfall. 

The  two  men  told  about  themselves  with 
out  reserve,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  reason 
to  doubt  their  story.  They  were  sports,  they 
said,  frankly,  it  being  fully  understood  that 
the  word  sport  was  a  mere  euphemism  for 
professional  gambler,  and,  having  "  made  a 
killing"  in  La  Crosse  a  few  days  before, 
they  were  enjoying  a  trip  down  the  river 
with  the  ultimate  purpose  of  getting  into  a 


STUMPY'S   DILEMMA  59 

big  game  at  Vicksburg  or  New  Orleans. 
Things  being  too  slow  to  suit  them  on  the 
boat  on  which  they  started,  they  had  stopped 
off  at  the  first  landing-place  to  wait  for  an 
other.  Being  thus  in  Brownsville,  they  pro 
posed  to  enjoy  themselves  as  heartily  as 
possible,  so  what  was  the  matter  with  all 
hands  having  another  drink? 

Whatever  latent  prejudice  there  was  in  the 
minds  of  Stumpy  and  one  or  two  others  who 
recognized  an  element  of  peril  in  the  situa 
tion,  was  of  little  force  against  the  popular 
enthusiasm  the  two  strangers  evoked  by  their 
liberality.  Being  men  of  seemingly  unlim 
ited  capacity  themselves,  they  soon  discov 
ered  that  Brownsville  had  also  a  few  mighty 
drinkers,  and,  while  now  and  again  some  less 
gifted  man  dropped  out  of  the  bout  and 
made  his  uncertain  way  to  some  hiding- 
place,  there  were  others  on  whom  even  Sam's 
brands  of  red  liquors  had  no  appreciable 
effect. 

Long  Mike,  indeed,  seemed  in  his  element. 
Glass  for  glass  with  anybody  and  everybody 
he  tossed  off  his  tipple  as  if  it  were  filtered 


60 STAND   PAT 

water,  and  his  eye  grew  brighter,  his  hand 
steadier,  and  his  tongue  more  nimble  with 
each  potation,  so  that  only  those  who  knew 
the  awful  cumulative  effect  drink  had  on 
him  when  his  limit  was  actually  reached, 
could  realize  that  the  commercial  standing 
of  Brownsville  was  at  stake,  for  without 
Long  Mike  there  was  no  head  to  the  com 
munity,  and  no  prospect  of  carrying  on  any 
business  of  importance.  Therefore  Stumpy 
—  and  others  —  had  misgivings. 

Not  all  the  boats  that  ply  the  Mississippi 
stop  at  Brownsville,  and  the  intervals  at 
which  some  do  stop  are  uncertain,  so  that 
Carruthers  and  Hopper  had  no  means  of 
calculating  the  length  of  their  stay.  It  did 
not  appear  to  trouble  them  much,  but  toward 
evening,  no  boat  having  appeared,  and  none 
being  expected  that  night,  Carruthers  re 
marked,  casually,  that  he  could  wish  for  a 
little  excitement. 

"  Your  liquor  is  all  right,"  he  said,  "  and 
your  society  here  is  pleasant  enough  to  suit 
anybody,  but  don't  you  ever  do  anything  in 
Brownsville?  " 


STUMPY'S    DILEMMA  61 

"  We  had  a  cock-fight  here  last  month," 
said  Hennessy,  "  but  there's  only  one  cock  in 
town  now.  That  was  Gallagher's  afore  Gal 
lagher  lit  out,  but  even  if  he  was  to  come 
home  there's  no  way  o'  fightin'  one  cock. 
That  is,  there's  no  way  I  know  on,  'thouten 
you  put  him  front  of  a  lookin'-glass,"  he 
added,  with  a  foolish  laugh  that  no  one 
echoed. 

"Don't  nobody  ever  play  poker  here?" 
asked  Hopper. 

"  I  knowed  it,"  said  Stumpy,  under  his 
breath,  to  Sam,  who  nodded  understand- 
ingly. 

People  did  play  poker  in  Brownsville, 
quite  a  number  of  them,  but  they  had  a 
wholesome  respect  for  travelling  sports, 
realizing  that  the  domestic  variety  of  the 
game  was  by  no  means  up  to  the  standard 
established  on  the  boats  by  gentlemen  who 
made  a  business  of  playing.  Liquor,  how 
ever,  played  the  mischief  with  Long  Mike's 
bump  of  caution,  and  he  was  fond  of  poker 
anyhow. 

It  turned  out  as  Stumpy  feared,   and  as 


62  STAND    PAT 

Hopper  expressed  his  disdain  of  a  limit 
game,  and  nobody  else  was  strong  enough  to 
put  up  a  hundred  dollars,  Long  Mike  was 
presently  engaged  in  playing  table  stakes 
with  the  two  sports,  each  of  the  three  having 
produced  that  sum. 

"  It's  not  the  hundred'll  break  him,"  said 
Stumpy,  while  Sam  was  getting  the  chips 
and  cards,  "  but  he'll  buy  and  buy,  by  and 
by,  till  the  divil  himself  couldn't  save  him." 

And  this  was  the  prevailing  opinion 
among  the  score  or  more  of  men  who  clus 
tered  around  to  watch  the  game.  No  man, 
however,  cared  to  raise  his  voice  in  protest. 
It  would  hardly  have  been  done  in  any  case, 
for  a  wholesome  respect  obtains  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  River  for  the  right  of  the  individual 
to  go  to  the  devil  in  his  own  chosen  way,  but, 
in  the  case  of  Long  Mike,  there  was  an 
additional  feeling  that  he  would  make  it  ex 
tremely  uncomfortable  for  any  one  who 
might  presume  to  remonstrate  with  him  for 
anything. 

The  game  was  not,  at  first,  a  notable  one. 
No  particularly  sensational  play  marked  the 


STUMPY'S   DILEMMA  63 

loss  of  Long  Mike's  first  hundred,  though 
it  went  pretty  fast,  and  with  the  second  hun 
dred  he  managed  to  secure  some  good  pots, 
so  that  he  ran  up,  almost  even,  for  a  few 
moments.  But  a  series  of  losses  reduced  his 
pile  again  to  less  than  forty  dollars,  when  he 
caught  a  flush  against  Hopper's  full  house, 
and  called  on  Sam  for  two  hundred  more 
in  chips. 

It  was  evident,  then,  that  he  had  the  fever, 
and  Stumpy  groaned  in  spirit.  There  was 
no  telling  what  the  end  would  be,  but  he 
felt  that  it  was  among  the  possibilities  for 
Long  Mike  to  ruin  himself  in  an  hour  or 
two,  and  his  ruin  would  be  disastrous  to 
more  than  one  in  the  room. 

Suddenly  he  saw  something  which  set  his 
brain  in  a  whirl.  If  he  could  have  been 
positive  and  could  have  given  proof,  he 
would  have  declared  that  he  saw  Hopper 
deal  himself  a  card  from  the  bottom  of  the 
deck.  He  knew,  however,  what  the  accusa 
tion  of  cheating  would  mean,  and  he  hesi 
tated.  Possibly  he  might  have  been  mis 
taken,  he  thought,  and  anyhow  it  would  be 


64 STAND    PAT 

his  word  against  one  other's.  It  was  alto 
gether  uncertain  what  the  result  would  be. 

He  watched  the  game,  however,  even  more 
keenly  than  before,  determined  to  speak,  re 
gardless  of  consequences,  if  he  should  see 
anything  he  was  sure  of.  What  he  did  not 
notice  was  that  Carruthers  had  seen  the  gasp 
of  astonishment  that  he  had  himself  been 
unconscious  of,  and  was  watching  him  care 
fully.  He  stood  opposite  where  Carruthers 
sat. 

Presently  there  came  a  jack-pot  that  Hop 
per  opened  for  five  dollars.  Carruthers 
passed,  but  did  not  immediately  throw  his 
cards  on  the  table.  Long  Mike  raised  it  ten 
dollars,  it  being  his  deal.  Hopper  came 
back  at  him  with  ten  more,  and  Long  Mike 
stayed. 

Hopper  called  for  two  cards,  and,  as  he 
did  so,  Stumpy  distinctly  saw  Carruthers 
show  Hopper  his  hand  as  he  threw  it  on 
the  table  in  the  discard.  One  of  the  five 
was  an  ace,  and  Stumpy  saw  it. 

Watching  Hopper  as  he  moved  to  pick 
up  the  cards  dealt  to  him  in  the  draw,  he 


STUMPY^   DILEMMA  65 

saw  further  that  Hopper  took  one  of  them 
and  one  from  the  discarded  pile.  It  was 
deftly  done,  but  he  was  certain  this  time. 

Long  Mike  stood  pat,  and  when  Hopper 
pushed  his  whole  pile  forward,  Long  Mike 
called  him  for  all  he  had  in  front  of  him, 
a  hundred  and  odd  dollars.  Then  he  showed 
a  pat  straight  and  Hopper  showed  four  aces. 

"Hold  on!"  shouted  Stumpy.  "There's 
foul  play  here.  That — •"  and  then  he 
paused. 

Every  man  in  the  room  was  looking  at 
him,  and  he  was  the  only  one  who  saw  the 
muzzle  of  Carruther's  pistol  just  above  the 
edge  of  the  table.  It  was  pointed  directly 
at  him,  and  the  barrel  looked  to  him  as  large 
around  as  a  nail-keg. 

It  was  not  necessary  to  explain  to  him  that 
Carruthers  had  the  drop  on  him.  Moreover, 
he  knew  that  if  he  tried  to  finish  his  sentence 
he  would  be  shot  before  he  got  the  words  out. 
It  was  small  wonder  he  paused. 

Nobody  spoke  for  a  moment,  Stumpy  for 
the  excellent  reason  just  stated,  and  the  others 
because  of  their  surprise.  Then  Carruthers 


66 STAND    PAT 

said:  "Evidently  the  gentleman  never  saw 
four  aces  held  before.  Is  that  what  you 
meant  when  you  spoke  of  foul  play?  " 

Still  all  eyes  were  on  Stumpy.  No  one 
else  had  seen  the  revolver,  but  he  knew  that 
on  his  answer  depended  the  question  whether 
Carruthers  should  shoot  or  not.  Drops  of 
sweat  came  out  on  his  forehead.  He  drew  a 
long  breath. 

Then  he  saw  something  else,  and  he  an 
swered  Carruthers  curiously. 

"  Yes-s-s,"  he  said,  prolonging  the  word 
into  a  curious  hiss  which  he  knew  that  Peter 
understood. 

At  the  instant  that  Carruthers,  with  an 
evil  smile,  was  relaxing  his  aim,  a  small, 
brown  dog  landed  on  his  shoulders  and  fast 
ened  his  teeth  in  his  throat. 

No  man  was  ever  able  to  recall  all  the 
details  of  the  mix-up  that  followed,  but 
after  two  badly  damaged  strangers  had  de 
parted  from  Brownsville  on  the  next  boat, 
Stumpy  observed  to  Sam:  "Sure,  it  would 
ha'  been  betther  to  kill  thim,  I  don't  know." 


VI 

GALLAGHER'S  RETURN 

WHEN  Gallagher  came  back  to  Browns 
ville  he  did  not  expect  to  be  met  at  the 
steamboat-landing  by  a  delegation  of  citizens 
eager  to  welcome  his  return.  There  was  no 
thought  in  his  mind  of  having  to  listen  to 
an  address  of  eulogy  and  being  obliged  to 
reply  with  a  few  or  a  great  many  well- 
chosen  remarks. 

The  idea  of  a  brass  band  and  a  display  of 
fireworks  tooting  and  blazing  in  his  honour 
had  never  entered  his  head.  The  most  he 
hoped  for  was  to  be  able  to  sneak  across  the 
gangplank  unnoticed,  and  to  make  his  way 
under  the  friendly  obscurity  of  darkness,  in 
case  it  should  happen  to  be  after  nightfall, 
along  the  edge  of  the  levee  to  the  neighbour 
hood  of  his  own  house,  where  he  might  re 
main  in  seclusion  until  such  time  as  he 

67 


68 STAND    PAT 

should  learn  what  the  disposition  of  the  com 
munity  might  be,  and  more  especially  what 
Long  Mike's  attitude  toward  him  was. 

The  recollection  of  all  the  circumstances 
attending  his  departure  from  Brownsville 
was  sufficiently  vivid  in  his  mind  to  fill  him 
with  apprehension,  and  the  utmost  caution 
seemed  absolutely  necessary  when  he  deter 
mined  to  return.  He  recalled  distinctly  that, 
after  he  had  tried  Long  Mike's  temper  to 
the  point  at  which  further  endurance  became 
impossible,  that  usually  good-natured  person 
became  suddenly  furious  with  rage,  and  not 
only  discharged  him  from  his  employ  —  that, 
Gallagher  was  accustomed  to  —  but  strove 
earnestly  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  hiring 
him  again,  by  the  simple  but  effective  ex 
pedient  of  killing  him. 

It  should  be  said  that  Long  Mike  seldom 
attempted  to  kill  anybody.  Murder  was  not 
his  habit,  he  being  usually  a  tolerant  person, 
albeit  he  required  a  full  equivalent  of  labour 
in  return  for  the  wages  he  paid. 

On  such  occasions,  however,  as  he  had 
deemed  serious  enough  to  demand  extreme 


GALLAGHER'S    RETURN        69 

action,  he  had  never  been  known  to  fail  to 
get  his  man,  until  Gallagher  had  eluded 
him  by  a  flight  that  took  him  far  from 
Brownsville.  Some  months  had  elapsed  since 
then,  but  Gallagher  had  no  means  of  know 
ing  whether  his  boss's  wrath  had  cooled  or 
not. 

The  caution  he  displayed  in  eluding  ob 
servation  when  he  went  ashore  from  the  river 
boat  was  not,  therefore,  uncalled  for.  Know 
ing  the  ground  perfectly,  even  in  the  dark 
ness,  he  picked  his  way  carefully  to  the  door 
of  his  own  house,  but  before  lifting  the  latch 
he  stopped  and  listened,  as  one  who  was  in 
great  doubt.  As  he  continued  to  listen  he 
passed  through  many  phases  and  degrees  of 
doubt,  perplexity,  and  amazement. 

It  was  his  own  house  beyond  a  question, 
but  many  things  had  happened  since  his  sud 
den  departure.  Long  Mike  was  impetuous, 
but  not  devoid  of  generous  impulses,  or  of 
a  prejudice  in  favour  of  fair  play.  When 
he  realized  that  he  had  wrought  injustice 
to  Mrs.  Gallagher  in  the  fervour  of  his  pur 
suit  of  her  husband,  he  had  taken  effective 


70 STAND    PAT 

and  characteristic  measures  to  remedy  the 
wrong. 

This  was  largely  due  to  the  personality  of 
Stumpy,  whose  Irish  blood  boiled  on  slight 
provocation,  and  who  entertained  no  fear, 
even  of  his  boss,  when  he  was  moved  to 
remonstrate  against  any  happening  which 
failed  to  comport  with  his  ideas  of  propriety. 
Stumpy  it  was  who  said: 

"  Sure,  it  was  a  blackguard's  thrick  to 
lave  Misthress  Gallagher  widout  a  bed  to 
lie  on,  or  a  shtove  or  a  taable  to  her  back." 

"  Did  Gallagher  do  that? "  demanded 
Long  Mike,  indignantly. 

"  He  did  not,"  said  Stumpy,  "  but  there's 
them  that  did." 

"  Who  did  it?  "  asked  Long  Mike. 

"  It  was  yoursilf,"  said  Stumpy,  and  stood 
immediately  on  the  defensive. 

The  look  of  blank  astonishment  that  Long 
Mike  gave  at  the  accusation  was  at  least 
presumptive  proof  that  he  did  not  realize 
his  offence,  and  seeing  it,  Stumpy's  wrath 
was  somewhat  assuaged.  It  did  not  right 


GALLAGHER'S   RETURN        71 

the   wrong,    however,    and    Stumpy   wanted 
that  done. 

"  It  was  whin  ye  was  lukkin'  f'r  Galla 
gher,"  he  explained.  "  Belike  ye  was  con 
fused  wid  the  rage  that  was  in  ye,  an7  maybe 
a  thrifle  o'  liquor,  too,  but  ye  found  his  house, 
an'  him  not  bein'  there,  by  the  mercy  o'  God, 
ye  smashed,  and  smashed,  an'  there's  nothin' 
left." 

"  Did  I,  now?  "  said  Long  Mike,  and  he 
chuckled,  whereat  Stumpy's  wrath  blazed 
up  again. 

"  Ye  did,"  he  said,  briefly,  "  an'  'twas  a 
blackguard  act  for  to  lave  a  lone  woman 
deshtitoot." 

"  Aisy  now,  Stumpy,  aisy  now,"  said  Long 
Mike,  good-naturedly.  "  Av  that  pirut,  Gal 
lagher,  has  left  his  woman  deshtitoot  - 

"  'Twas  you  drove  him  away,"  interrupted 
Stumpy. 

"  Yis,  an'  a  good  job.  Av  he  cooms  back, 
I'll  break  ivery  dommed  bone  in  his  body," 
exclaimed  Long  Mike,  with  sudden  fury. 
"  But  I'll  have  no  woman  suffer  in  Browns 
ville,  Stumpy.  Av  that  dirty  pirut  lift  her 


72 STAND   PAT 

deshtitoot,  as  ye  say,  she'll  be  took  care  of. 
Mind  that." 

Taken  care  of,  she  had  been,  in  Browns 
ville  fashion.  New  furniture  had  replaced 
the  stuff  that  Long  Mike  destroyed,  and, 
as  the  house  contained  two  rooms,  or  one 
more  than  Mrs.  Gallagher  required  to  live 
in,  the  sporting  element  of  Brownsville  had 
established  the  custom  of  using  her  extra 
space  for  a  card-room. 

Whenever  a  game  was  in  progress,  the 
good  lady  retired  to  her  own  apartment,  but 
after  the  players  had  departed  she  always 
found  that  the  kitty,  established  for  her  bene 
fit,  remained  on  the  table.  And  inasmuch 
as  the  income  she  derived  from  this  source 
was  much  larger,  and  no  more  irregular, 
than  that  which  she  enjoyed  from  Gallagher, 
it  had  come  about  that  she  no  longer  felt  any 
very  keen  anxiety  for  his  return. 

All  this  was,  of  course,  unknown  to  Gal 
lagher,  as  he  listened,  and  his  surprise  at 
the  unexpected  sounds  he  heard  was  natural 
enough. 

One    Harrison   had   been    in    Brownsville 


GALLAGHER'S   RETURN        73 

for  two  or  three  days,  in  company  with  his 
side  partner,  Davis,  the  two  being  on  one 
of  their  occasional  business  trips  down  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  They  had  been  known 
to  play  in  some  of  the  principal  cities,  but 
for  the  most  part  they  preferred  the  smaller 
places,  being  of  the  variety  of  sports  com 
monly  known  as  crossroads  gamblers,  and 
Brownsville  was  one  of  their  favourite  stop 
ping-places. 

They  had  at  first  been  inclined  to  question 
the  use  of  a  private  house  for  their  purposes, 
but  after  the  circumstances  were  explained, 
they  had  acquiesced  readily  enough,  and  on 
this  occasion  they  were  sitting  in. 

Long  Mike  was  there.  It  would  have 
taken  more  than  one  Catling  gun  to  keep 
him  out  of  a  game  when  one  was  in  progress 
and  he  was  in  the  neighbourhood.  McCar 
thy  had  a  hand  also,  and  Billy  Flynn. 

McCarthy  was  a  character.  He  loved  the 
game  of  poker  with  a  fervour  that  would 
have  made  him  a  large  winner  if  he  could 
only  have  learned  how  to  play  the  game. 
As  it  was,  he  only  sa't  in  at  such  times  as 


74 STAND    PAT 

he  had  sufficient  money  saved  up  from  his 
wages  to  buy  a  stack.  And  he  never  sat 
long. 

Flynn  was  a  good  player,  and  Long  Mike 
was  better  than  the  average,  but  neither  of 
them  knew  enough  of  the  game  to  detect  the 
peculiarities  of  play  that  gave  Harrison  and 
Davis  a  large  percentage  in  their  favour. 

They  had  been  playing  for  half  an  hour, 
and  only  the  remnants  of  his  stack  remained 
to  McCarthy,  when  he  caught  a  king  full, 
pat,  on  Flynn's  deal.  It  was  a  jack-pot,  and 
Harrison,  having  first  say,  opened  it  for  the 
size  of  it,  which  was  a  dollar  and  a  quarter. 
The  game  was  a  small  one. 

McCarthy  raised  it  all  he  had,  which  was 
about  seven  dollars  more,  and  the  others  all 
laid  down,  including  the  opener,  who  showed 
jacks.  McCarthy  took  down  his  two  dollars 
and  a  quarter  winnings,  and  proceeded  to 
make  the  only  additional  blunder  that  was 
possible  under  the  circumstances.  He 
showed  his  hand  and  exulted  in  his  winning. 

It  was  nobody's  business  to  instruct  him, 
and  the  others  smiled  grimly  as  Harrison 


GALLAGHER'S    RETURN        75 

took  the  cards  to  deal.  He  was  impatient 
at  the  smallness  and  the  slowness  of  the  game 
and  made  ready  for  a  killing. 

Shuffling  with  extra  care,  he  dealt  good 
hands  to  everybody,  making  sure  of  the  aces 
at  the  bottom  of  the  deck  that  he  could 
utilize  in  the  draw.  It  would  have  been 
pitiful,  had  there  been  anybody  there  to  see, 
to  note  the  way  in  which  everybody  backed 
his  cards,  and  the  fact  that  Harrison's  full 
of  tens  on  aces  scooped  the  pot. 

McCarthy  was  out  of  it,  and  Flynn  and 
Long  Mike  had  to  buy  again,  but  they  were 
brave,  if  foolish,  and  being  well  supplied 
with  money,  they  played  on.  McCarthy  sat 
by  watching.  The  fascination  held  him, 
even  though  he  could  play  no  longer. 

Suddenly  he  saw  that  which  made  his  eye 
lids  contract  and  his  jaw  set  itself  like  a 
bulldog's.  He  said  nothing  at  the  moment, 
but  watched  carefully  until  it  came  Harri 
son's  turn  to  deal  again.  Then  he  leaned  a 
little  forward  and  looked  a  little  more  in 
tently. 

Again  it  was  a  jack-pot,  and  Long  Mike 


STAND   PAT 


opened  it.  Davis  and  Flynn  dropped,  but 
Harrison  raised  it,  and  Long  Mike  stayed. 
When  it  came  to  the  draw  he  called  for  one 
card,  and  McCarthy  spoke  up. 

"  If  it's  two  pairs  ye're  drawin'  to,  you'd 
better  split  'em  an'  draw  three  cards,"  he 
said,  and  Long  Mike  stared  at  him  in  amaze 
ment. 

"An'  what  for  should  I  do  that,  I  don't 
know?  "  he  said,  but  Harrison  broke  in  with 
an  oath  and  an  angry: 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"  I  mean,"  said  McCarthy,  very  distinctly, 
"  that  you've  stacked  the  cards  and  —  " 

Further  than  that  he  did  not  speak,  for 
Harrison's  gun  was  out  and  almost  in  posi 
tion  before  McCarthy  could  grapple  him 
and  seize  his  wrist.  At  the  same  moment 
Flynn  grabbed  the  pistol  itself  and  strove  to 
wrench  it  from  his  fingers. 

Even  with  two  men  holding  him,  and  they 
were  both  powerful  men,  the  gambler  strug 
gled  mightily,  and  for  a  moment  seemed 
about  to  wrench  himself  free.  The  three 
were  all  over  the  room. 


GALLAGHER'S    RETURN        77 

It  was  harder  to  keep  Long  Mike  out  of 
a  fight  than  to  drag  him  away  from  a  bar 
or  poker  game.  Moreover,  though  he  held 
McCarthy  in  contempt  as  a  gambler,  he 
knew  him  for  a  man  who  spoke  the  truth, 
and  leaping  to  his  feet  he  started  forward. 

Davis,  however,  sprang  up  at  the  same 
instant,  and,  stretching  out  his  foot,  he 
tripped  the  big  man  and  threw  him  head 
long  on  the  floor.  Drawing  a  knife  from 
his  belt,  he  threw  himself  on  the  prostrate 
form  and  raised  his  arm  for  a  blow.  In  the 
excitement  nobody  noticed  that  the  door  had 
been  opened. 

"Whurroo!"  said  Gallagher,  and  threw 
himself  into  the  fray. 

There  was  no  time  to  find  a  weapon,  and 
he  carried  none,  but  he  was  handy  with  his 
feet,  and  a  well-directed  kick  not  only  lamed 
Davis's  elbow  for  a  week,  but  knocked  the 
knife  from  his  hand  half-way  across  the 
room.  It  would  have  been  between  Long 
Mike's  ribs  but  for  the  kick.  Disarmed  and 
disabled,  the  desperado  was  no  match  for 
the  two  men,  one  of  whom  was  grappling 


78 STAND    PAT 

him  from  beneath  while  the  other  was  con 
tinuing  to  kick  from  above. 

At  this  moment  the  pistol  went  off  and 
Gallagher  fell  to  the  floor.  Flynn  had  got 
possession  of  the  weapon,  but  it  had  been 
discharged  in  the  transfer  and  Gallagher's 
head  was  directly  in  line.  Having  it,  how 
ever,  Flynn  used  it  promptly  and  stunned 
Harrison  with  a  single  blow,  practically  end 
ing  the  shindy,  for  Long  Mike  made  short 
work  of  Davis  when  he  realized  the  situa 
tion. 

"  Is  he  kilt? "  he  inquired,  anxiously,  as 
Flynn  and  McCarthy  bent  over  Gallagher. 
"  Sure  he  saved  my  life  when  this  black 
guard  was  shtickin'  me  like  a  pig." 

"  I  think  he  is,"  said  McCarthy.  "  There's 
a  hole  in  his  head  the  size  of  a  shtove 
door." 

But  the  bullet  had  glanced,  and  Gallagher 
was  only  stunned.  Sitting  up  a  moment  later 
he  said: 

"Will  ye's  all  get  out  o'  my  house?  I 
have  confidential  affairs  to  discuss  wid  Mis- 
thress  Gallagher." 


GALLAGHER'S    RETURN        79 

"  We  will,"  said  the  three  friends,  as  they 
departed,  dragging  the  gamblers  with  them. 

Then  the  other  door  opened. 

"  Is  it  you,  Pat?  "  said  a  female  voice. 

"  It  is,"  said  Gallagher,  "  an'  I'd  like  my 
supper.  But  first  ye'll  give  me  a  bit  o'  a 
wet  rag  till  I  wipe  my  head." 


VII 

GALLAGHER  STRIPPED 

"  SURE  I  do  be  thinkin'  it's  like  playin' 
lotthery,"  said  Stumpy,  as  he  sat  one  day  in 
meditative  mood  near  the  steamboat-land 
ing  with  Deaf  Dan.  It  was  a  hot  afternoon 
and  there  had  been  a  long,  sociable  silence 
between  them  when  Stumpy  yawned  and  shot 
off  his  comparison.  It  was  uttered  in  sten 
torian  tones,  for  none  could  converse  other 
wise  with  Deaf  Dan. 

"As  bein'  how?"  inquired  Deaf  Dan. 
"Who's  a  lotthery?" 

"  All  of  us,"  said  Stumpy.  "  Iv'ry  marnin' 
we  do  put  in,  loike  the  suckers  that  buys 
thim  little  printed  bits  o'  paper  wid  a  big 
number  on  'em,  an'  lies.  An'  thin  we  set 
around,  like  bumps  on  a  log,  waitin'  for  to 
see  what  the  drawin'  '11  be,  the  same  as  thim 
same  suckers  does.  Mostly  it's  blanks.  Sil- 


GALLAGHER    STRIPPED        81 

dom  it  is  that  anythin'  happens  in  Browns 
ville.  But  now  an*  again,  some  wan'll  dhraw 
a  proize.  Maybe  it's  a  chanst  at  th'  red 
liquor,  an'  maybe  it's  a  shindy,  an'  sometimes 
it's  a  game  of  dhraw-poker,  but  annyhow  it's 
a  proize,  such  as  it  may  be." 

"  It's  right  y'  are,"  said  Deaf  Dan.  "  An' 
lately  it's  all  blanks.  Sure,  there's  nothin' 
do  be  doin'  in  th'  place  since  the  night  that 
Gallagher  got  back." 

"  Sure,  that  was  a  fine  foight,"  said 
Stumpy. 

"  They  tell  me  that  same,"  responded  Deaf 
Dan,  "  but  Gallagher  an'  -  Howly  mother 
o'  Moses,  phwat's  that?  " 

"  That "  appeared  at  first  to  be  a  proces 
sion  of  two,  emerging  with  great  suddenness 
from  the  door  of  the  barroom,  but,  as  Deaf 
Dan  and  Stumpy  rose  to  get  a  better  view 
of  the  proceedings,  the  two  who  first  ap 
peared  were  followed  by  a  straggling  crowd 
of  others,  all  eagerly  intent  on  observation, 
so  that  presently  the  entire  male  population 
of  Brownsville  was  assembled  on  the  levee, 
looking  with  interest  to  see  the  outcome  of 


82 STAND    PAT 

what  seemed  to  be  a  personal  difficulty  be 
tween  two  prominent  citizens.  Last  of  all 
to  appear  was  Sam,  the  bartender,  whose 
appearance  on  his  doorstep  was  indisputable 
evidence  that  there  was  no  one  remaining 
inside. 

The  leading  figure  in  the  procession  was 
Gallagher,  and  judging  from  the  earnestness 
with  which  he  was  moving,  it  was  easily  to 
be  understood  that  he  was  desirous  of  putting 
as  much  vacant  space  as  possible  between 
himself  and  the  second  advancing  figure. 
He  might  almost  be  said  to  be  flying,  rather 
than  fleeing.  And  every  ounce  of  force  at 
his  command  was  devoted  to  the  effort  to 
keep  in  the  lead,  so  that,  although  his  mouth 
was  open,  he  emitted  no  sound. 

His  pursuer,  on  the  other  hand,  though 
he  was  no  less  resolute  in  his  endeavour  to 
cover  the  ground  quickly,  was  devoting  a 
part  of  his  strength  to  the  loud  utterance 
of  many  w7ords.  For  the  most  part,  these 
words  savoured  of  profanity,  too  enthusiastic 
to  be  well  chosen,  but  sufficiently  impas 
sioned  to  be  exceedingly  impressive.  There 


GALLAGHER    STRIPPED        83 

was  no  questioning  the  fact  that  Long  Mike 
had  lost  his  temper  again,  and  small  doubt 
that  he  would  do  bodily  harm  to  his  foreman 
if  he  should  succeed  in  getting  near  enough 
to  lay  hands  upon  him. 

But  Gallagher  succeeded,  though  with 
great  difficulty,  in  maintaining  his  position 
in  the  van  of  the  advance  until  he  reached 
the  brink  of  the  river.  Then,  instead  of 
turning,  or  possibly  making  a  stand,  he  sur 
prised  the  onlookers  beyond  measure  by 
making  a  flying  leap,  and  disappearing  in 
the  muddy  flood. 

Right  here  it  may  be  said  that  no  man, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  Gallagher  or 
Long  Mike  himself,  was  ever  able  to  tell 
just  how  it  happened  that  the  long-standing 
difficulty  between  the  two  had  blazed  up  in 
such  sudden  fury.  Opinions  differed  as  to 
whether  Gallagher's  intemperate  habits  of 
speech  had  provoked  the  outburst  or  whether 
Long  Mike's  apprehension  had  been  warped 
by  his  indulgence  in  superfluous  stimulant. 
All  that  was  known  was  that  Long  Mike  had 
aimed  a  sudden  blow,  which  the  other  had 


84 STAND   PAT 

dodged,  and  that  the  foot-race  began  forth 
with. 

When  the  pursued  plunged  into  the  river, 
the  pursuer  paused  on  the  brink.  For  a 
moment  it  seemed  as  if  he  were  only  waiting 
for  his  victim  to  appear  at  the  surface  be 
fore  leaping  in  after  him,  and  Stumpy  and 
two  or  three  others  laid  detaining  hands  on 
him.  Almost  immediately,  however,  it  ap 
peared  that  he  was  not  minded  to  risk  him 
self  in  the  water,  although  his  wrath  was 
by  no  means  assuaged,  for,  after  a  few  mo 
ments,  Gallagher,  who  could  swim  like  a 
fish,  reappeared  some  twenty  yards  from 
shore,  and,  keeping  himself  easily  afloat, 
turned  to  his  foe.  Thereupon,  Long  Mike, 
making  no  effort  to  break  away  from  the 
men  who  held  him,  opened  his  mouth  and 
spoke. 

" ,"  he  said. 


"  Is  that  so?  "  responded  Gallagher,  mock 
ingly.  He  was  not  devoid  of  courage, 
though  neither  he  nor  any  three  men  up  and 


GALLAGHER    STRIPPED        85 

down  the  river  cared  to  face  Long  Mike  in 
a  rough-and-tumble  fight. 

"It  is,"  said  Long  Mike,  "  an'  if  ye'll 
come  ashore,  I'll  break  ivery  bone  in  yer 
body." 

"  Ye'll  not,"  said  Gallagher. 

"An'  why?"  demanded  Long  Mike. 

"  Because  I'll  not  come  ashore." 

Preposterous  as  this  proposition  was,  Long 
Mike  did  not  appear  to  recognize  the  fact 
that  the  other  could  hardly  remain  in  the 
water  indefinitely,  and  that  all  he  had  to  do 
was  to  wait.  He 'broke  out  again  in  lan 
guage  to  which  no  polite  person  would  will 
ingly  listen,  and  concluded  by  saying:  "I 
can  lick  the  life  out  o'  yez." 

'Ye  can,"  said  Gallagher,  unhesitatingly. 

"  An'  I  can  outdhrink  yez." 

"  Ye  can  that,"  said  Gallagher  again. 

"  An'  I  can  outrun  yez." 

"  Yis." 

"  An'  I  can  outswear  yez,  an'  —  an'  —  an' 
—  an'  I'm  a  betther  man  than  yez  in  ivery 
way,"  sputtered  Long  Mike,  not  seeming  to 


STAND    PAT 


be  able  to  call  to  mind  any  more  specific 
accomplishments. 

"Y'  are  not,"  said  Gallagher.  "Whin  it 
comes  to  dhraw-poker,  I'll  play  ye  fer  years 
ag'in  minutes,  an'  bate  ye  the  two-thirds  of 
all  eternity." 

"  Draw-poker,  is  it? "  exclaimed  Long 
Mike.  "  Av  ye'll  coom  in  out  o'  the  wet  an' 
play  a  freeze-out,  I'll  win  yer  money  an'  yer 
house  an'  lot,  an'  the  clo'es  off  yer  back,  till 
yer  naked  as  a  bald  head,  an'  worn  out  as 
a  burnt  match." 

"I'll  go  ye,"  said  Gallagher,  "  f'r  all  I 
have,  ag'in  everything  ye  have  yoursilf." 

There  was  a  murmur  of  dissent  and  some 
derisive  laughter  from  the  crowd,  for  Gal 
lagher,  though  fairly  well-to-do  according 
to  the  Brownsville  standard,  was  the  other's 
employee  and  by  no  means  a  peer  of  the 
principal  capitalist  of  the  town,  who,  in  ad 
dition  to  his  visible  resources,  had  money 
secreted  in  his  house.  But  Long  Mike  raised 
his  hand. 

"  Let  be,"  he  said,  sternly.  "  I  have  a 
lesson  to  tache  this  omadhaun.  Faith,  he's 


GALLAGHER    STRIPPED        87 

growin'  too  large  to  live  in  the  same  town 
wid  the  likes  o'  me." 

And  the  unequal  match  was  arranged.  In 
half  an  hour's  time  the  two  were  seated  in 
Sam's  back  room,  with  all  the  chips  in  the 
house  divided  in  two  equal  parts,  and  the 
game  was  begun  with  the  clear  understand 
ing  that  the  winner  of  all  the  chips  could 
claim  from  the  other  all  that  he  owned  on 
earth  down  to  his  undershirt. 

As  there  was  nothing  whatever  to  attract 
the  attention  of  anybody  in  Brownsville  to 
any  other  point,  the  room  was  crowded  with 
lookers-on,  and  all  those  who  could  not  gain 
entrance  stood  outside  and  discussed  the 
probabilities. 

"  If  Gallagher  do  play  close,"  said 
Stumpy,  "  I'm  thinkin'  he'll  win  out,  for 
Long  Mike's  the  divil  for  bluffin'  an'  Gal 
lagher  knows  it,  worse  luck! "  And  this  was 
the  general  sentiment. 

In  the  first  half-hour  —  for  the  game  was 
a  long  one  —  Long  Mike's  luck  was  by  no 
means  good,  and  though  the  big  man  made 
no  violent  plunges,  his  pile  of  chips  dwindled 


STAND    PAT 


until  Gallagher  had  all  but  a  single  stack 
of  blues.  Of  course,  there  was  no  arbitrary 
money  value  to  a  chip,  but  they  called  them 
dollars  for  convenience,  the  reds  being  a 
quarter  and  the  whites  a  nickel. 

It  was  Long  Mike's  deal  and  Gallagher 
anted  the  usual  nickel,  but  the  dealer,  find 
ing  nothing,  threw  in  a  blue  and  took  his 
change  from  the  other,  making  a  ten-cent 
jack.  This  was  sweetened,  a  nickel  at  a  time, 
till  there  was  a  dollar  in  the  pot.  Then,  Gal 
lagher  dealing,  Long  Mike  opened  it  for  a 
dollar. 

"  I'll  raise  you  two,"  said  Gallagher. 

"  Five  better,"  said  Long  Mike,  pushing 
in  the  chips. 

"  All  you've  got,"  said  Gallagher. 

"  Go  you,"  said  Long  Mike,  and  they  both 
stood  pat.  Each  had  a  flush,  but  Long 
Mike's  was  ace  high  and  Gallagher's  best 
card  was  a  jack. 

The  next  hand  was  passed  and  another 
jack-pot  made.  Gallagher  opened  it,  was 
raised,  raised  back,  and  was  raised  again 
till  once  more  Long  Mike's  pile  was  in  the 


GALLAGHER    STRIPPED        89 

centre  and  Gallagher  stood  to  win  it  all. 
Again  they  both  stood  pat  and  showed  two 
straights,  but  Long  Mike's  was  the  better. 
This  gave  him  eighty  dollars  to  play  with, 
but  Gallagher  still  had  nearly  three  hundred, 
so  it  took  another  hand  like  the  last  to  put 
the  two  on  anything  like  even  ground. 

"  If  Long  Mike  wins  again,"  whispered 
Stumpy  to  his  next  neighbour  in  great  ex 
citement,  "  he's  got  his  luck  wid  him,  an' 
it's  good-bye,  Gallagher."  His  neighbour 
nodded,  and  their  hopeful  faces  showed  that 
they  shared  fully  in  the  general  wish  that 
Long  Mike  would  win. 

It  was  with  strained  attention  that  the 
crowd  watched  the  next  deal,  and  a  sigh 
of  satisfaction  followed  the  making  of  an 
other  jack-pot.  This  was  sweetened  again 
and  again  till  the  spectators  lost  patience, 
and  Long  Mike  expressed  his  poor  opinion 
of  the  cards  violently  and  called  for  a  new 
deck. 

It  was  brought  and  shuffled,  and  on  the 
first  deal  both  caught  openers.  Long  Mike 
opened  and  Gallagher  raised,  but  instead  of 


90 STAND    PAT   

raising  again,  Long  Mike  simply  made  good 
and  called  for  one  card.  Then  he  chipped 
without  looking  at  his  draw. 

"  Yer  name  is  Mud  this  time,"  said  Galla 
gher.  "  I  don't  want  any  cards  an'  I'll  raise 
you  the  size  o'  the  pot." 

"  Is  that  so?  "  asked  Long  Mike.  "  Well, 
maybe  I've  drawed  an  ace,  I  don't  know. 
If  I  have,  I'll  raise  you  my  pile."  And  he 
turned  over  the  card  he  had  drawn,  exposing 
it  to  view.  It  was  an  ace,  and  without  a 
word  he  shoved  his  chips  all  into  the  pot. 

It  looked  like  a  winning,  and  Gallagher 
studied  some  time  before  playing.  But, 
though  it  looked  like  a  winning,  it  also 
looked  like  one  of  Long  Mike's  character 
istic  blufTs  on  finding  himself  confronted  by 
a  pat  hand,  and  finally  Gallagher  said: 
"  I've  got  to  call  you.  Mine's  a  flush." 

"  An'  mine's  a  trey  full  on  aces,"  said 
Long  Mike.  "  Faith  if  I'd  known  you  was 
goin'  to  stand  pat,  I'd  have  taken  two  an' 
been  beat."  And  a  mighty  cheer  went  up 
from  the  crowd,  for  the  two  players  were 
nearly  even  again. 


GALLAGHER    STRIPPED        91 

Gallagher  scowled,  but  said  nothing  and 
played  close.  Winning  and  losing  in  turn 
for  half  an  hour  more,  he  fell  slightly  be 
hind,  so  that  he  had  less,  instead  of  more, 
than  half  the  chips  when  he  caught  four 
fours  pat  in  a  jack-pot  that  Long  Mike 
opened.  He  raised,  of  course,  and  was 
raised  in  turn,  till  Long  Mike  called,  and 
made  ready  to  serve  the  draw. 

"  Gimme  one,"  said  Gallagher,  carelessly, 
and  was  delighted  when  the  other  drew  two. 
It  looked  like  the  chance  of  his  life,  and 
when  Long  Mike  bet,  he  raised  it  his  pile. 

But  Long  Mike  called  him  again  and 
showed  down  four  eights. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  all  ye  have  is  mine, 
isn't  it?  " 

"  It  is,"  said  Gallagher,  pluckily  enough. 

"  Shtrip,  then,"  said  Long  Mike,  sternly, 
and  the  other  without  a  word  threw  off  his 
clothes  till  he  had  on  nothing  but  a  fine  Irish 
blush.  But  he  uttered  no  complaint,  and  the 
crowd  that  had  jeered  him  unmercifully  fell 
into  silence  and  turned  away  its  eyes  as  he 
walked  toward  the  door. 


92 STAND    PAT 

Just  as  he  reached  it,  however,  Long  Mike 
stopped  him. 

"  Come  back  an'  put  on  yer  clothes,"  he 
said.  "  They  do  be  fittin'  yez  betther  nor 
they  would  me.  Yer  money  I'll  take,  for 
ye'll  worrk  the  harder  for  bein'  broke,  but 
yer  house  I  don't  want.  Yer  a  man,  afther 
all,  Gallagher,  an'  I'll  hire  you  over  again. 
There's  a  boat  whistlin'  on  the  river  now, 
an'  ye'll  hustle  th'  men  down  the  levee  right 
speedy." 


VIII 

A  TRIAL  OF  SKILL 

"THERE'S  wan  thing  about  Brownsville," 
said  Stumpy,  "  that  saves  the  place  from 
bein'  like  wan  o'  them  asylums  f  r  the  fee- 
ble-moinded,  where  the  min  sews  patchwork, 
an'  the  women  shmokes  pipes." 

"Wot's  eatin'  you?"  asked  Sam,  the  bar 
tender. 

Sam  had  local  pride  which  he  held  to  be 
justified  by  his  own  prosperity,  and  he  was 
apt  to  be  gruff  when  any  one  spoke  disparag 
ingly  of  Brownsville.  The  two  men  had  sat 
together  on  the  levee,  sociably  silent  for  half 
an  hour,  when  the  spirit  moved  Stumpy  to 
speech. 

Having  spoken,  however,  he  sat  as  one 
relieved  in  his  mind,  and  was  in  no  haste 
for  further  conversation.  It  was  therefore 


94 STAND    PAT 

some  minutes  before  he  replied,  but  at  length 
he  said: 

"  Sure,  it  puts  me  in  moind  o'  the  great 
famine  in  Ireland  me  father  used  to  tell  of. 
Ye'd  go  for  a  week  or  a  day  wid  sorry  a  bit 
t'  ate  of  annything  at  all,  at  all,  an'  thin  ye'd 
get  maybe  a  pratie  or  a  crusht,  that'd  kape 
ye  goin'  a  bit  longer. 

"  There  do  be  toimes  in  Brownsville  that'd 
make  ye  think  ye  was  dead  an'  buried.  Sure, 
the  still  o'  the  nights  is  worse  nor  a  thunder- 
shtorm  for  kapin'  a  man  awake,  an'  the  days 
is  worse. 

"  An'  thin,  whin  ye  do  be  goin'  melancholy 
mad  wid  the  monny-tony  o'  loife  that  isn't 
livin'  at  all,  at  all,  but  blue-mouldin',  some- 
thin'  or  other'll  hit  ye,  loike  a  fri'ndly  black 
thorn  at  Donnybrook,  an'  ye'll  sit  up  an' 
take  notice.  Mostly  it's  Long  Mike,  but 
times  it'll  be  something  else. 

"  An'  whin  it  do  come,  ye'll  think  for  a 
time  that  Brownsville  is  wan  o'  the  hid 
cinters  of  all  th'  excitement  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  River.  Maybe  it's  a  bit  o'  gun-play 
it'll  be,  wid  a  tin-horn  gambler,  loike  th' 


A   TRIAL    OF    SKILL  95 

toime  th'  one-eyed  man  cashed  in,  or  belike 
it'll  be  somethin'  or  other  wid  Gallagher, 
but  annyhow  it  shtirs  things  oop.  This  toime 
Oi  do  be  thinkin'  it'll  be  Hinnissy." 

"  An'  why  would  it  be  Hennessy?  "  asked 
Sam. 

"It  wouldn't  on'y  f'r  Gallagher,"  said 
Stumpy,  "  but  thim  two  is  like  a  hammer 
an'  a  shtick  o'  dynamite,  or  a  mule's  hind 
leg  an'  a  sthraw.  Av  they  do  be  kept  apart, 
there's  no  great  harrum,  but  av  ye  bring 
thim  together,  belike  there's  friction." 

"  They  was  playin'  cards  sociable  enough 
last  night,"  observed  Sam. 

"That's  it,"  replied  Stumpy.  "When 
thim  two  gets  sociable,  ye  wants  to  kape 
yer  eye  open.  Whin  it's  a  cussin'  f  m  Gal 
lagher,  him  bein'  foreman,  or  a  kick  f'm 
Hinnissy,  that  bein'  his  disposition,  they're 
good  friends.  Sure  they're  both  of  thim 
Oirish.  But  whin  they  get  fri'ndly,  they  do 
be  two  naturalized  citizens,  wid  Oirish  blood 
an'  Mississippi  River  manners,  an'  God 
knows." 

"  Did  you  hear  anything?  " 


96 STAND    PAT 

"  No,  but  I  shmelt  it,  an'  this  mornin'  the 
shmell  is  still  in  th'  air.  My  dog  Peter  has 
the  scint  of  it,  shtrong.  He  kim  out  wid 
me  for  a  walk,  an'  whin  we  passed  Galla 
gher's,  he  sniffed  around  loike  he  do  for  a 
rat.  An'  he  turned  back  an'  lay  down  in 
the  road  near  Hinnissy's  place.  Sure  he 
knows  more  o'  some  things  nor  a  Christian." 

"Then  you  think  there'll  be  trouble?" 
asked  Sam,  somewhat  jeeringly. 

"  Sure,  Oi  don't  think  it,"  said  Stumpy, 
"  but  Oi  do  be  tellin'  ye  Oi  shmell  it." 

What  further  discussion  there  might  have 
been  was  cut  off  at  this  point  by  the  appear 
ance  of  two  or  three  citizens  in  the  distance. 
They  were  making  their  way  leisurely 
toward  Sam's  place  of  business,  and  he, 
foreseeing  a  demand  for  his  services,  went 
indoors. 

As  if  the  appearance  of  the  first  comers 
on  the  street  had  been  a  signal,  others  pres 
ently  appeared,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
Brownsville  had  put  on  as  much  of  an  ap 
pearance  of  activity  as  was  usual  when  there 
was  no  boat  expected. 


A   TRIAL    OF    SKILL  97 

The  first  to  arrive  at  the  barroom  was 
Long  Mike  himself,  and  he,  looking  around, 
conveyed  with  his  eyes,  in  some  almost  im 
perceptible  fashion,  an  invitation  to  Stumpy 
to  step  inside.  Accordingly  that  gentleman 
arose,  though  without  unseemly  haste,  and 
made  one  of  a  small  group  that  presently 
lined  up  in  front  of  Sam's  bar. 

Two  of  the  group  were  Gallagher  and 
Hennessy,  and  Stumpy  was  not  the  only  one 
who  noted  with  rising  spirits  the  exagger 
ated  politeness  with  which  they  spoke  to 
each  other.  There  had  been  nothing  of  im 
portance  doing  in  the  community  since  navi 
gation  had  closed  at  the  beginning  of  winter, 
and  as  it  was  now  almost  warm  weather 
again  —  warm  enough,  at  all  events,  to  tempt 
the  people  out-of-doors  —  the  prospect  of 
some  excitement  was  exhilarating. 

"  It's  a  very  good  game  you  play  at  shtud- 
poker,  Mr.  Gallagher,"  said  Hennessy,  when 
the  drink  was  swallowed  and  the  pipes  were 
all  relighted. 

"You  do  me  proud,  Mr.  Hinnissy,"  re 
plied  Gallagher,  with  equal  courtesy,  "  an' 


98 STAND    PAT 

ye  play  very  well  yersilf,  barrin'  th'  matther 
oj  poor  luck  now  an'  ag'in." 

"  Oi  was  thinkin'  that  same  lasht  night," 
said  the  other.  "  Av  the  cyards  hadn't  run 
till  ye  the  way  they  did,  belike  ye'd  not  have 
won  the  money  ye  did." 

"  Thot  moight  be,  an'  again  maybe  not," 
said  Gallagher,  still  polite,  but  with  a  tone 
of  satisfaction  in  his  voice  that  Hennessy 
detected. 

"  Ye  know,"  he  said,  "  they  run  different, 
different  toimes." 

"  They  do,"  said  Gallagher.  "  An'  that's 
when  the  shkill  comes  in.  Now  yer  own 
game  is  wan  that  wins,  av  ye  have  the  cyards, 
but  ye  lose  when  ye  haven't." 

"  An'  don't  ye  find  that  same  to  be  yer 
own  experience?"  asked  Hennessy. 

"  Oi  do  not,"  said  Gallagher.  "  Whin  Oi 
haven't  the  cyards,  Oi  never  bet.  It's  the 
wan  thing  ye  have  to  1'arn  about  the  game." 

The  matter  of  seven  dollars  that  Hennessy 
had  lost  the  night  before  was  still  rankling, 
and  this  intimation  that  it  was  his  lack  of 
ability  as  a  player  that  caused  him  to  lose 


A   TRIAL   OF    SKILL  99 

was  hard  to  bear.  He  commanded  himself 
with  a  visible  effort  and  merely  said: 

"  Maybe  ye'd  loike  to  exercise  yer  shkill 
some  more  the  marnin',  Oi  don'  know." 

"Well,"  said  Gallagher,  "  ye  may  have 
yer  revenge  an  yer  lukkin'  for  it."  And  the 
game  was  on. 

There  was  some  talk  as  they  took  their 
seats  at  the  table  about  some  of  the  others 
joining  in,  but  Hennessy  declared  that  he 
much  preferred  to  play  with  Gallagher 
alone,  and  his  wish  was  respected.  They 
made  it  a  ten-dollar  freeze-out,  and  the 
others  in  the  room  gathered  around  to  see 
the  play. 

For  a  considerable  time  it  seemed  as  if 
Gallagher's  boasting  had  some  foundation 
in  fact,  for  he  played  cautiously,  and  several 
times  abandoned  the  hand  when  he  had  one 
or  even  two  good  cards  showing,  evidently 
believing  that  he  was  beaten  by  the  other's 
buried  card,  but  after  he  had  got  well  ahead, 
Hennessy  began  to  get  good  hands. 

A  pair  of  tens,  back  to  back,  he  played 
cunningly,  letting  his  opponent  do  the  bet- 


100 STAND    PAT 

ting  until  the  last  card  was  dealt,  when  Gal 
lagher  bet  a  dollar  on  two  eights  in  sight. 
Then  he  raised  it  three  dollars,  and,  as  this 
looked  like  a  bluff,  Gallagher  called. 

A  similar  play  when  he  really  held  a 
straight  with  the  middle  card  buried,  against 
two  pairs,  netted  him  as  much  more,  and 
the  lucky  chance  of  a  third  ace  for  the  last 
card  against  three  queens  in  sight  enabled 
him  to  raise  back  to  the  extent  of  Gallagher's 
pile  after  he  had  passed  the  bet  and  Galla 
gher  had  shown  his  confidence  in  his  queens. 

He  had  won  the  freeze-out  and  was  calmly 
tolerant  when  Gallagher  said,  with  some 
thing  of  a  sneer: 

"  Yez  can  all  see  now  what  I  said.  Whin 
Mr.  Hennessy  has  the  cyards  he  can  play 
as  well  as  the  next." 

"Oi  can,"  he  replied,  loftily.  "An'  Oi 
can  do  betther  nor  that." 

"  An'  how?  "    demanded  Gallagher. 

"  Oi  can  lick  the  shtuffin'  out  of  anny  man 
that  can't  lick  the  shtuffin'  out  o'  me." 

"  An'  is  it  me  ye  mane?  "  asked  Gallagher, 
almost  choking. 


A   TRIAL    OF    SKILL          101 

"  It  is." 

"  It  is  foight  ye  mane?" 

"  It  is." 

"Av  ye'll  shtep  outside,"  said  Gallagher, 
"  Oi'll  shtand  ye  on  yer  head,  an'  dhrive  yer 
body  so  far  down  in  the  mud  they'll  be 
usin'  ye  for  an  artooshun  well." 

"  Ye  may,  thin,"  said  Hennessy,  and  two 
minutes  later  they  were  out  on  the  levee,  with 
their  coats  off,  locked  in  a  grip  that  seemed 
unbreakable. 

"What  did  Oi  say  till  ye  the  marnin'," 
said  Stumpy,  as  he  and  Sam  stood  watching 
the  proceedings  in  keenest  delight,  together 
with  nearly  the  entire  male  population  of 
Brownsville.  "There  do  be  things  happens 
here  sometimes." 

The  excitement  was  so  great,  in  fact,  that 
for  the  moment  no  one  noticed  a  bareheaded 
woman  that  came  running  up  the  street, 
almost  breathless,  but  shouting  as  loudly  as 
she  could.  When  her  voice  reached  the 
crowd,  they  perceived  that  it  was  the  voice 
of  Mrs.  Hennessy,  and  there  was  an  impera- 


102  STAND   PAT 

; —  \* 

$  '  '  '?; 
tive  tone  in  it  that  arrested  even  the  attention 

of  the  two  who  were  fighting. 

"  Mike!  "  she  screamed,  "  Mike!  darlint. 
The  babby  fell  down  in  the  cistern,  an' 
Missus  Gallagher  climbed  dowa  wid  a  rope, 
an'  we  pulled  the  babby  up,  an'  she's  shtuck 
at  the  bottom.  Sure  ye'll  coom  an'  pull  her 
up.  Hurry,  for  the  love  o'  God." 

They  did  hurry,  all  of  them,  and  when 
Mrs.  Gallagher  was  rescued,  as  she  speedily 
was,  Hennessy  turned  to  his  foe: 

"  Oi'll  not  foight  you  this  day,  Gallagher, 
but  you'll  dhrink  wid  me  for  the  babby  your 
good  woman  saved.  An'  so,"  he  added, 
"will  the  whole  o'  Brownsville  this  day." 

But  while  they  drank,  Stumpy  remarked: 
"  Sure  it's  almost  a  pity  they  couldn't  ha' 
finished  the  shindy.  It  would  ha'  been  worth 


seem'.' 


•fir       :'.* 
i& 


1 


i!Vl 


•  •Mh 


IX 

A  SOCIAL  CALL 

"HURROO!"  exclaimed  Long  Mike,  and 
fired  a  shot  through  the  ceiling. 

Had  there  been  any  antecedent  circum 
stances  to  explain  his  outburst,  Brownsville 
would  have  accepted  it  as  a  characteristic 
and  perfectly  natural  act,  but  it  chanced 
that  nothing  whatever  had  occurred  for  a 
full  half-hour.  The  usual  group  had  been 
sitting  around  the  stove  in  the  barroom,  and 
the  usual  drone  of  entirely  uninteresting 
conversation  had  buzzed  along.  Everybody 
had  said  something,  but  nobody  knew  or 
cared  what  anybody  else  had  said. 

It  was  therefore  a  matter  of  some  surprise 
that  even  Long  Mike  should  express  him 
self  with  such  vehemence.  No  one  spoke 
for  a  moment  or  so  after  the  shot,  but  all 
looked  interested.  Presently  Sam,  the  bar- 

103 


104 STAND    PAT 

tender,  inquired  with  some  anxiety  if  the 
big  man  felt  well. 

"  Oi  do  not,"  replied  Long  Mike,  as  he 
put  away  his  gun.  "  There  do  be  nothin' 
at  all,  at  all,  that  wears  me  out  loike  the 
dead  shrillness  o'  winter  weather,  an'  Oi'm 
thinkin'  it's  toime  for  a  thaw.  Ye've  heard 
th'  oice  i'  th'  river  cr-rack  whin  it's  makin' 
ready  to  break  up.  Well,  Oi  feel  loike 
cr-rackin'  thot  same  way.  It's  toime  some- 
thin'  was  did." 

"  An'  it's  right  y'  are,"  said  Stumpy,  "  but 
what?  Sure,  ivery  j'int  in  me  body  is  blue- 
mouldin'  wid  shtiffness  from  the  want  of 
excitement.  Oi've  a  cr-ravin'  for  tumult 
that's  worse  nor  a  cr-ravin'  for  dhrink.  Sure, 
a  flood  is  betther  nor  bein'  froze  up  loike 
this." 

"  It's  me,  too,"  said  Gallagher.  "  I  have 
a  touch  o'  the  same  complaint,  but  I  don't 
see  nothin'  ahead  till  th'  ice  breaks  up,  an' 
the  boats  run  again." 

"Oi  do,"  said  Long  Mike.  "Jim  Bixby 
was  tellin'  me  yesterday  that  some  o'  thim 
shports  in  La  Crosse  was  goin'  dead,  loike 


A    SOCIAL    CALL  105 

us,  f'r  the  lack  o'  things  to  do,  an'  Oi  told 
him  to  tell  thim  to  come  over  to  Browns 
ville  the  next  trip  o'  the  stage.  An'  the  stage 
is  due  now.  Oi  do  be  thinkin'  there'll  be 
some  comin'  the  day." 

The  event  proved  that  the  big  man  had 
not  miscalculated,  for  even  as  he  spoke  the 
jingle  of  sleigh-bells  came  up  from  the 
frozen  surface  of  the  river,  and,  as  they 
all  looked  out,  they  saw  Bixby  driving,  not 
the  usual  span,  but  a  team  of  four  horses 
over  the  thick  ice,  and  bringing  a  big  stage- 
load  of  men  wrapped  in  furs  and  smoking 
furiously  to  keep  the  keen,  cold  air  from 
their  lungs. 

It  was  one  of  the  community  visits  with 
which  men  broke  the  monotony  of  the  long 
winters  in  what  was  then  called  the  great 
Northwest,  and,  because  of  the  habits  of  the 
two  communities,  it  seemed  more  than  likely 
that  there  would  be  excitement  enough  be 
fore  the  La  Crosse  contingent  should  be 
ready  to  return. 

Of  the  visiting  delegation  there  were  ten 
in  all,  but  the  most  conspicuous  among  them, 


106 STAND    PAT 

as  Long  Mike  was  the  principal  figure  in 
Brownsville,  was  one  Tom  Krags,  a  man  of 
more  than  local  fame,  who  had  amassed  a 
competence  on  the  Mississippi  boats  by  his 
success  at  the  card-table,  and  had  settled  in 
La  Crosse  as  the  proprietor  of  what  he  called 
the  "  only  first-class  second-rate  hotel  in  Wis 
consin."  It  was  a  flourishing  hostelry,  with 
a  large  cardroom  adjoining  the  barroom. 

Krags  was  a  quiet  man,  usually,  with 
pleasant  manners  and  a  large  chest  meas 
urement.  At  least  a  foot  shorter  than  the  big 
man  of  Brownsville,  he  was,  in  all  his  other 
dimensions,  a  worthy  match,  and  one  of  the 
dreams  of  delight  among  the  river  men  was 
the  thought  that  sometime  there  might  be  a 
physical  encounter  between  the  two. 

No  set  programme  having  been  arranged 
for  the  festivities,  the  first  ceremony  was  the 
usual  tender  of  liquid  hospitality.  Sam  be 
came  busy  without  special  instructions,  and 
for  a  long  half-hour  exerted  himself  man 
fully  in  response  to  the  demands  that  came 
in  rapid  succession  from  this  one  and  that 
who  felt  eager  to  uphold  his  part  of  the 


A    SOCIAL    CALL  107 

burden  of  hospitality  or  pay  his  share  of  the 
tax  of  reciprocity. 

A  temporary  lull  in  this  exercise  was  filled 
with  conversation,  in  which  the  dearth  of 
news  in  both  communities  was  duly  dis 
cussed,  and  the  day  wore  on  toward  a  close 
with  no  special  outbreak  of  excitement.  It 
appeared,  however,  that  three  of  the  guests 
had  brought  certain  pet  game-cocks  with 
them,  so  a  series  of  cock-fights  was  arranged 
after  a  long  discussion  of  terms,  and  by 
nightfall  the  floor  of  the  barroom  was  sadly 
in  need  of  a  thorough  cleansing.  Then,  after 
the  lamps  were  lighted,  and  a  hearty  supper 
had  been  discussed,  a  game  of  draw-poker 
was  proposed. 

This,  it  was  felt,  was,  after  all,  the  main 
event  of  the  day.  Brownsville  was  not  espe 
cially  addicted  to  poker  except  on  occasions 
when  outside  talent  appeared,  but  there  was 
enough  local  pride  to  justify  a  contest  when 
a  challenge  was  issued.  And  there  was  an 
overweening  confidence  in  Brownsville  in 
Long  Mike's  luck. 

The  two  leaders  arranged  the  terms  and 


108 STAND    PAT 

virtually  chose  the  players,  so  that  the  game 
was  table  stakes,  each  man  to  buy  a  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  chips  for  a  starter,  and  six 
men  to  constitute  the  party.  Long  Mike  took 
Stumpy  and  Hennessy,  and  Krags  named 
Smithers,  a  beetle-browed  Englishman  in 
his  party,  and  Jack  Bains,  a  capable-look 
ing  lumberman  from  the  upper  river,  to  rep 
resent  the  visiting  talent.  Sam  set  out  the 
chips  and  cards  and  served  a  preliminary 
drink,  and  the  game  was  on. 

For  the  first  half-dozen  hands  there  was 
little  doing.  The  ante  was  a  dime  calling  a 
quarter,  no  one  caring  to  hurry  the  game, 
and  all  realizing  that  a  hundred  dollars  was 
enough  to  give  him  a  considerable  run  un 
less  his  luck  was  phenomenally  bad.  Pres 
ently,  however,  Hennessy  saw  what  looked 
like  an  excellent  opening  and  he  opened  a 
jack-pot. 

To  his  intense  joy  he  got  three  stayers, 
for  he  had  three  tens  and  a  lot  of  confidence. 
It  was  Stumpy's  deal,  and  he  and  Smithers 
had  stayed  out.  In  the  draw  Bains  took 
three  cards,  Long  Mike  one,  Hennessy  one, 


A    SOCIAL    CALL 109 

holding  up  an  ace  to  his  tens,  and  Krags 
called  for  two. 

It  was  hard  to  figure  chances  on  a  draw 
like  that,  but  Hennessy  reckoned  they  would 
size  him  up  for  two  pairs  and  he  threw  in 
ten  dollars,  thinking  that  he  would  call  any 
raise  he  might  get.  He  hadn't  looked  at  his 
draw,  but  did  not  count  on  having  bettered. 

Krags  saw  the  ten,  having  three  sevens 
which  he  had  not  bettered,  and  a  proper 
respect  for  Long  Mike's  one-card  draw. 
Bains  surrendered,  and  Long  Mike  raised 
it  ten,  having  bettered  his  hand  with  a  six 
spot  that  made  a  small  straight. 

Hennessy  investigated  and  found  he  had 
caught  another  ace,  which  was,  of  course, 
enough  to  go  back  on;  but  Long  Mike  was 
not  the  player  he  was  after,  so  he  simply 
saw  the  raise,  hoping  for  nothing  more  than 
a  call  from  Krags.  That  gentleman,  how 
ever,  folded  his  cards.  He  had  the  name  of 
knowing  extremely  well  how  to  lay  down 
when  he  was  beaten.  So  nobody  was  badly 
hurt. 

The  next  chance  fell  to  Smithers  on  Long 


110 STAND    PAT 

Mike's  deal,  there  being  another  jack-pot, 
and  he  opened  for  one  dollar  and  a  half, 
there  being  that  amount  in  the  pot.  The 
struggle  was  longer  this  time,  for  everybody 
stayed  and  three  men  bettered.  He  threw 
in  a  white  chip  for  a  feeler,  and  Hennessy 
raised  it  five  dollars  on  three  queens.  Krags 
stayed,  having  aces  up,  and  Stumpy  raised 
again  with  a  flush.  Bains  made  good,  hav 
ing  filled  a  straight,  and  Long  Mike  lay 
down.  He  had  three  little  ones,  but  a  double 
raise  scared  him  out. 

Smithers  looked  at  his  hand  doubtfully. 
He  had  opened  it  on  kings  and  fours  and 
had  caught  a  seven  in  the  draw,  but  deciding, 
whether  it  was  good  poker  or  not,  to  make 
a  bluff,  he  came  back  with  twenty  dollars 
more.  It  was  almost  good,  too,  for  it  looked 
as  if  he  had  made  a  full  house,  and  Hennessy 
dropped  his  three  queens  without  a  whimper, 
though  he  would  have  called  if  Stumpy  had 
not  raised  him  on  the  round  before. 

Krags  lay  down,  and  Stumpy  did  some 
thinking.  It  took  nerve  to  call  even  with  a 
flush,  but  finally  he  said :  "  Ye  may  have  it, 


A    SOCIAL    CALL  111 

I  don't  know,  but  Oi'll  see  it  annyhow,"  and 
threw  in  his  chips. 

"  That's  good,"  said  Bains,  and  Smithers 
had  to  show  his  two  pairs. 

"Tried  to  blow  me,  hey?"  said  Stumpy, 
tauntingly,  as  he  raked  in  the  chips.  "  Ye 
may  do  that  in  La  Crosse,  but  it  don't  go 
here."  And  Smithers  had  nothing  to  say. 

The  next  two  deals  were  uneventful,  and 
then  Krags  took  the  deck.  His  thick  mus 
cular  fingers  were  well  kept  and  white,  after 
the  usual  rule  as  touching  the  hands  of  pro 
fessional  gamesters,  and  one  who  looked 
closely  would  have  seen  that  they  were 
singularly  deft  as  well.  As  it  happened 
there  were  three  men  at  the  table  who  were 
looking  closely,  and  when  he  passed  the  cards 
over  to  Hennessy  for  the  cut,  that  player 
riffled  them  three  times  before  cutting  them, 
whereat  Stumpy  grinned  with  glee,  and 
Long  Mike  looked  serene  and  satisfied. 

Krags  could  say  nothing,  for  Hennessy 
was  within  his  rights,  but  he  leaned  a  little 
over  toward  the  left  side  as  he  dealt,  leaving 
his  right-hand  hip  pocket  a  little  easier  to 


112  STAND    PAT 

get  at.  It  was  only  a  slight  indication  of 
the  possibilities,  but  there  was  not  a  man  at 
the  table  who  failed  to  notice  it. 

From  that  time  on  the  tension  increased. 
After  Krag's  deal  Stumpy  called  for  a  new 
deck  of  another  colour,  and  when  that  had 
been  used  twice,  Long  Mike  ran  over  it 
carefully,  and  called  for  still  another  deck. 
"  There's  an  ace  o'  hearts  here,"  he  said, 
"  that  a  man  can  tell  across  the  room."  No 
charge  of  crooked  play  had  been  made,  but 
the  visitors  saw  that  they  were  suspected,  and 
they  were  well  prepared  for  the  row  that 
was  coming. 

Long  Mike  it  was  that  precipitated  it.  He 
was  watching  Krags  intently,  and  suddenly, 
as  that  player  was  discarding  after  serving 
the  others  with  the  draw  in  his  own  deal, 
Long  Mike  reached  over  and  seized  both 
his  wrists  with  a  lightning-like  movement. 

"  Ye  have  six  cards  in  yer  hand,  ye  spal 
peen,  an'  two  in  yer  sleeve,"  and  twisting 
Krags's  hands  remorselessly,  he  proved  that 
he  was  right. 

Instantly  the  room  was  in  an  uproar,  and 


"*  YE    HAVE    SIX    CARDS    IN    YER    HAND,    YE    SPALPEEN.' 


A    SOCIAL    CALL 113 

every  one  of  the  ten  visitors  had  his  gun  out, 
excepting  Krags,  who  was  struggling  vio 
lently  but  ineffectually  to  free  his  hands. 
The  Brownsville  men  were  as  quick  as  the 
strangers,  but,  although  three  or  four  shots 
were  heard,  none  reached  a  mark.  And  after 
a  little  time,  Long  Mike's  voice  commanded 
attention. 

"  Av  we  did  the  roight  thing,"  he  shouted, 
"  we'd  chop  holes  in  th'  oice,  an'  send  yez 
ahl  shwimmin'  down  th'  river.  But  Oi'm 
thinkin'  we  can  have  more  fun  nor  that. 
Yez'll  ahl  give  yer  guns  to  Sam,  an'  Oi'll 
take  this  omadhaun  out-o'-doors  an'  woipe 
th'  ground  up  wid  him.  An'  Bixby'll  hitch 
up  an'  carry  what's  left  back  to  La  Crosse 
the  noight  widout  waitin'  f'r  sun-up." 

No  one  dissented,  for  Krags  and  his  fol 
lowers  were  as  confident  as  the  Brownsville 
men,  and  moreover  counted  themselves  lucky 
to  get  off  as  they  did  after  the  expose.  And 
then  Smithers  gave  a  new  turn  to  the  situa 
tion  by  saying,  "  I'll  bet  even  money  that 
Krags'll  lick  him." 

In  about  three  minutes  all  the  available 


114 STAND   PAT 

cash  in  the  party  was  staked  on  the  contest 
and  the  two  gladiators  stripped  for  the  fray. 

Then  was  Brownsville  glorified  within 
three  minutes  more,  for  Long  Mike  stood 
with  his  hands  down,  waiting  the  other's 
onslaught.  It  came  with  a  fury  that  would 
have  demolished  an  ordinary  man,  but  he 
took  two  blows  that  seemed  enough  to  break 
his  bones,  and  then  wrapped  his  arms  around 
Krags  in  such  fashion  as  to  hold  him  help 
less.  For  a  moment  he  stood  thus,  tighten 
ing  his  grip  slowly,  and  then  said,  coolly: 

"  Ye'll  tell  me  when  ye  have  enough." 

The  other  made  no  answer,  but  struggled 
like  a  wildcat,  while  Long  Mike  stood 
smiling  and  slowly  tightening  his  awful  grip. 
Not  until  the  bones  began  to  crack  did  the 
defeated  man  give  up,  but  presently  he 
gasped  "  Enough,"  and  fell,  half-dead,  to 
the  ground  as  the  other  released  his  hold. 

"  Oi'm  thinkin',  belike,"  said  Stumpy,  as 
they  watched  the  stage  start  off,  "  thot  we 
might  have  a  party  up  here  from  Dubuque 
next  week,  I  don't  know.  Thim  social  visits 
is  foine  divarsion." 


X 

STUMPY  VIOLATES  ETIQUETTE 

THE  fate  of  the  one-eyed  man  had  not 
been  forgotten  in  Brownsville,  but  the  lapse 
of  time  since  his  taking  of!  had  been  suffi 
cient  to  allay  the  excitement  which  it  had 
occasioned. 

This  excitement,  it  may  be  said,  was  not 
the  result  of  any  fervent  esteem  which  the 
one-eyed  man  might  have  enjoyed  among 
his  fellow  citizens  if  he  had  been  a  person 
of  more  congenial  temperament  than  he  was. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had  various  traits  of 
character  which  had  distinctly  failed  to 
commend  him  to  the  hearty  liking  of  the 
community,  and  while  he  lived  there  were 
not  a  few  citizens  who  counted  him  among 
the  least  desirable  of  their  number. 

Brownsville,  however,  was  not  habituated 

116 


116 STAND    PAT 

to  homicide.  Fights  there  were  in  Browns 
ville  not  infrequently,  and  a  good  shindy 
was  commonly  reckoned  among  the  pleas 
urable  variations  to  the  monotony  that  char 
acterized  life  in  the  little  river  town  for 
something  like  three  hundred  and  sixty  days 
in  the  year. 

Such  rights,  however,  were  usually  carried 
to  a  more  or  less  satisfactory  conclusion 
without  loss  of  life,  and  the  sudden  demise 
of  the  one-eyed  man  had  aroused  some 
horror,  as  well  as  a  strong  feeling  of  an 
tipathy  for  the  man  who  shot  him.  This 
feeling  was  also  tempered  by  the  lukewarm- 
ness  of  the  sentiment  of  the  community 
toward  the  one-eyed  man,  but  the  prevailing 
opinion  was  that  Wharton  had  gone  a  little 
too  far  in  shooting. 

There  was  no  disputing  the  fact,  however, 
that  it  was  a  fair  fight,  and  that  the  one-eyed 
man  had  brought  it  on  himself,  so  there 
had  been  no  attempt  made  to  put  Wharton 
on  trial  for  the  killing.  He  had  gone  away 
from  Brownsville,  and  the  general  satis 
faction  at  that  had,  of  itself,  tempered  the 


VIOLATES    ETIQUETTE      117 

hostility  he  had  provoked,  which  hostility 
was  indeed  no  very  powerful  sentiment. 

When  the  Creole  Belle,  however,  tied  up 
at  the  Brownsville  landing,  just  at  the  edge 
of  a  summer  evening,  some  months  after  the 
shooting,  and  Mr.  Wharton  stepped  ashore, 
he  failed  to  receive  any  enthusiastic  welcome. 
Strangers  who  came  ashore  at  Brownsville 
were  not  so  numerous  as  to  allow  of  his 
escaping  recognition,  and  most  of  those 
whom  he  greeted  on  his  way  from  the  land 
ing  to  the  barroom  responded  with  a  cool 
"  Howdy,"  but  no  one  proffered  a  hand 
shake,  and  none  gave  him  spontaneous  greet 
ing. 

It  was  not  observed,  however,  that  any 
of  those  in  the  barroom  made  any  strenuous 
effort  to  avoid  his  invitation  to  partake  of 
such  refreshment  as  Sam  had  in  readiness. 
It  was  therefore  to  be  fairly  inferred  that 
time  had  mellowed  the  resentment  which 
Mr.  Wharton's  violent  action  had  originally 
provoked. 

Perhaps  no  clearer  statement  of  the  actual 
condition  of  public  sentiment  could  be  made 


118 STAND   PAT 

than  that  which  Stumpy  put  in  words,  speak 
ing  to  Gallagher,  as  they  returned  to  their 
work  on  the  landing  after  they  had  followed 
the  crowd  into  the  barroom. 

"  I  do  be  thinkin'  this  here  Wharton  'ud 
be  betther  loiked,"  he  said,  "  av  he'd  shtop 
some  place  where  they  knowed  less  about 
him.  Av  he  shtays  here,  belike  there'll  be 
doin's." 

"  Maybe,"  said  Gallagher,  "  but  I  reckon 
there's  them  here  that'll  kape  him  from  too 
much  killin',  an'  the  most  o'  the  houses  is 
nailed  down." 

"  Shure,  it's  not  the  likes  o'  that  I'm 
thinkin'.  Tain't  likely  he'll  steal  the  town, 
nor  yet  the  river,"  returned  Stumpy,  some 
what  nettled  at  the  other's  indifference,  "  but 
he's  not  the  koind  o'  man  I  loike  to  see. 

"  Shure,  he's  a  gambler,  an'  he's  too  al 
mighty  free  with  his  gun,  I'm  thinkin'. 
He'll  carry  away  the  money  that  belongs  in 
the  town,  an'  av  there's  anny  row  —  an' 
belike  there  will  be  if  Long  Mike  sits  in  wid 
him,  it's  not  fightin'  wid  fists  we'll  see,  but 
a  shootin'  scrape. 


VIOLATES   ETIQUETTE       119 

"  Shure,  I  don't  mind  a  bit  o'  a  shindy,  or 
a  sociable  game  o'  dhraw-poker,  but  thim 
kind  is  the  wrong  cattle  to  play  wid." 

"  We'll  see,"  said  Gallagher,  shortly,  as 
he  turned  to  his  work. 

He  was  an  enthusiastic  gambler  himself, 
though  a  most  unlucky  one,  and  the  notion 
of  playing  with  a  professional  had  no  terrors 
for  him.  Moreover,  the  scent  of  a  battle, 
even  afar,  was  sweeter  to  him  than  new- 
mown  hay.  Stumpy,  however,  though  by 
no  means  averse  to  excitement  of  any  kind, 
was  more  conservative  and  had  his  fore 
bodings. 

Later  in  the  evening,  after  the  Creole  Belle 
had  discharged  her  freight  and  taken  on  that 
which  was  waiting  for  her,  and  had  gone  on 
down  the  Mississippi,  leaving  Mr.  Wharton 
still  in  the  barroom,  it  appeared  altogether 
probable  that  some,  at  least,  of  these  fore 
bodings  would  be  justified. 

Sam  had  been  kept  tolerably  busy  in  the 
meantime,  Mr.  Wharton  having  realized 
what  was  expected  of  him  as  a  stranger, 
and  being  evidently  disposed  to  fulfil  his 


120 STAND    PAT 

obligations.  Possibly  in  consequence  of  this 
the  crowd  around  him,  when  Brownsville 
resumed  its  normal  inactivity  after  the  de 
parture  of  the  boat,  was  conversationally 
disposed. 

Not  less  than  four  persons  were  talking 
at  once,  most  of  the  time,  and  though  Mr. 
Wharton  did  comparatively  little  talking 
and  did  not  appear  to  have  taken  enough  red 
liquor  to  affect  his  nerves  in  the  least,  it  was 
noticeable  that  he  was  doing  all  he  could 
to  promote  the  general  hilarity. 

There  could  hardly  be  a  doubt  of  his  ob 
ject.  At  all  events,  Stumpy  entertained  none, 
and  though  he  did  his  duty  conscientiously 
in  seeing  that  none  of  Sam's  liquor  should 
go  begging,  as  became  one  who  was  con 
versant  with  Brownsville's  customs,  he  yet 
maintained  a  constant  watchfulness,  as  one 
who  feared  the  worst.  When,  presently,  he 
heard  Wharton  propose  a  game  of  cards,  he 
muttered : 

"  I  knew  it.  Now  for  a  battle,  murder 
an'  sudden  death,  I  don't  know.  Av  Long 
Mike  sits  in,  an'  the  saints  above  cudn't 


VIOLATES    ETIQUETTE       121 

kape  him  out,  there'll  be  doin's.  Sure  it's 
me  for  to  shtand  by." 

Stand  by,  accordingly,  he  did.  Wharton's 
proposal  was  seconded  and  adopted  with 
alacrity,  and  Long  Mike  and  Gallagher 
took  their  seats  at  the  table  eagerly.  Hen- 
nessy  also  declared  his  willingness  to  buy 
chips,  and  the  fifth  hand  was  taken  by  a 
man  named  Cutler,  who  had  been  in  town 
for  some  weeks,  and  was,  therefore,  known 
to  them  all  excepting  Wharton,  but  who  had 
failed  to  arouse  any  feeling  of  liking  or  re 
spect  among  the  citizens. 

Just  why  he  was  there  he  did  not  explain, 
nor  did  any  demand  an  explanation;  but 
it  seemed  so  utterly  unreasonable  for  a 
stranger  to  remain  in  Brownsville  indefi 
nitely  that  he  was  already  an  object  of  sus 
picion.  He  flashed  his  money  with  the 
others,  however,  and  no  one  made  objection 
to  his  playing. 

The  game  was  for  table  stakes,  and,  as 
each  player  bought  a  hundred  to  start,  no 
one  else  in  the  room  felt  rich  enough  to  take 
a  hand.  They  all  stood  around  looking  on, 


122  STAND    PAT 

however,  so  Stumpy  attracted  no  attention 
when  he  took  his  stand  directly  behind 
Wharton's  chair,  getting  as  close  to  it  as  he 
conveniently  could  without  touching  it.  It 
so  happened,  moreover,  that  Cutler  sat  nearly 
opposite  to  him,  being  the  third  man  to 
Wharton's  left. 

For  a  considerable  time  the  play  was 
uneventful,  and  the  luck  appeared  to  run 
more  evenly  than  was  to  be  expected.  Even 
Gallagher  did  not  lose  as  rapidly  as  usual, 
and  Long  Mike's  proverbial  good  luck  failed 
to  appear. 

In  less  than  half  an  hour,  however,  the 
big  hands  began  to  come,  and  the  play  be 
came  strenuous  enough  to  put  an  end  to 
general  conversation.  Nothing  was  heard 
but  the  few  stock  phrases  which  ordinarily 
announce  the  play  at  poker,  and  not  only 
the  players,  but  the  onlookers,  became  more 
and  more  excited. 

A  full  hand  that  Gallagher  caught  pat 
on  Long  Mike's  deal  gave  him  the  oppor 
tunity  to  open  a  jack-pot  under  the  guns, 
which  he  did  for  five  dollars,  there  being 


VIOLATES    ETIQUETTE      123 

that  amount  in  the  pot.  Cutler  came  in, 
and  so  did  Hennessy,  whereupon  Wharton 
raised  it  ten  dollars. 

Long  Mike  skinned  his  cards  down,  and 
finding  three  sevens,  concluded  they  were 
worth  playing,  so  he  saw  the  raise,  and  Gal 
lagher  promptly  came  back  with  ten  more. 
Cutler  hesitated  a  little,  but  saw  the  double 
raise,  and  Hennessy  dropped  out. 

Wharton  studied  a  bit,  but  finally  made 
it  ten  more  to  play,  and  Long  Mike  shoved 
his  money  forward  with  a  dogged  air,  as 
if  he  knew,  as  he  did,  that  he  was  over 
playing  his  hand,  but  was  determined  not 
to  be  driven  out. 

Gallagher  still  had  some  fifty  dollars  in 
front  of  him,  and  he  pushed  that  forward 
eagerly,  whereupon  Cutler  dropped,  and 
Wharton  simply  made  good.  Then  Long 
Mike  made  a  few  remarks. 

They  were  profane  rather  than  pertinent, 
being  of  the  nature  of  a  reflection  on  his 
own  discretion  in  playing  further,  but  his 
characteristic  dislike  to  being  driven  out 
made  him  put  up  his  money,  and  he  asked 


124  STAND    PAT 

the  others  what  they  wanted  in  the  draw. 
Neither  of  them  took  cards,  so,  with  con 
siderable  more  bad  language,  Long  Mike 
took  two  for  himself. 

"  I'm  all  in,"  said  Gallagher,  and  Whar- 
ton  threw  in  a  white  chip  carelessly,  with 
the  evident  thought  that  Long  Mike  had  no 
show  and  would  not  see  any  considerable 
bet. 

To  his  surprise  and  disgust,  however, 
Long  Mike  not  only  saw  his  side  bet,  but 
shoved  his  whole  pile  forward.  It  was  clear 
that  he  had  made  fours,  or  a  full,  or  was 
bluffing  outrageously,  but  as  Wharton  him 
self  had  four  fives,  he  felt  compelled  to 
call. 

Gallagher  had  struck  his  usual  luck,  and 
Long  Mike  had  found  his,  for  his  last  card 
was  the  fourth  seven.  It  put  Gallagher  out 
of  the  game,  for  he  had  only  twenty  dollars 
more  in  his  pocket,  and  they  refused  to  let 
him  buy  in  again  for  so  little.  Wharton, 
however,  took  another  hundred,  having  only 
a  few  chips  left. 

The  next  two  deals  were  uneventful,  but 


VIOLATES    ETIQUETTE       125 

when  Wharton  took  the  cards,  there  being 
a  jack-pot  on,  Long  Mike  opened  it.  The 
other  two  stayed,  and  again  Wharton  raised. 

No  one  came  back  at  him,  but  they  all 
stayed,  and  on  the  draw  they  took  two  cards 
apiece.  It  looked  like  three  of  a  kind  all 
round. 

Long  Mike  bet  a  chip.  Cutler  and  Hen- 
nessy  trailed  and  Wharton  raised.  Long 
Mike  stayed  and  Cutler  raised  back. 

Hennessy,  who  had  been  playing,  cau 
tiously  from  the  beginning,  threw  down  his 
cards,  and  Wharton  raised  again.  Still 
Long  Mike  stayed,  and  Cutler  raised  once 
more. 

Once  more  Wharton  went  back  at  him, 
and  though  no  single  raise  had  been  more 
than  five  dollars,  Long  Mike  seemed  sud 
denly  suspicious.  He  looked  from  one  to 
the  other  keenly,  and  then  studied  his  hand 
carefully.  Suddenly  he  pushed  fifty  dollars 
forward,  and  it  was  up  to  Cutler. 

That  worthy  hesitated  and  looked  at 
Wharton.  Whether  it  was  a  look  of  inquiry 
is  doubtful,  but  Stumpy  chose  to  consider 


126 STAND    PAT 

it  so,  and  he  violated  all  poker  etiquette 
unhesitatingly. 

"  Why  don't  ye  play  yer  own  hand,  ye 
omadhaun,"  he  demanded,  fiercely,  "  an'  not 
be  lookin'  at  yer  pal  for  insthructions?  " 

The  uproar  came  on  the  instant.  The 
players  all  sprang  to  their  feet,  upsetting 
the  table,  and  Wharton  and  Cutler  both 
reached  for  their  guns.  Hennessy,  however, 
grabbed  Cutler,  and  Stumpy  seized  Whar- 
ton's  wrist  in  a  grip  of  iron. 

"Ye'll  not  shoot,"  he  said.  "  Ye've  kilt 
wan  man  in  Brownsville  already,  an'  that's 
enough.  We  foight  different  here.  Av  ye 
feel  yerself  aggrieved,  Oi'll  front  ye,  man 
to  man,  but  there'll  be  no  gun  in  yer  hand. 
Sure  I  saw  yez  passin'  signals  to  yer  pal,  so 
I'm  thinkin'  ye'll  play  no  more  poker  here, 
ayther." 

The  hubbub  was  indescribable,  but  when 
it  became  possible  to  distinguish  voices  it 
appeared  that  popular  sentiment  was  on 
Stumpy's  side.  Wharton  and  Cutler  re 
fused  to  fight  with  nature's  weapons,  and, 
since  they  were  not  allowed  possession  of 


VIOLATES    ETIQUETTE       127 

their  pistols  again,  they  retired  in  as  good 
order  as  possible  to  the  landing-place,  where 
another  boat  was  just  coming  in. 

After  they  had  gone  up  the  river  together, 
Stumpy  said  confidentially  to  his  dog  Peter: 

"  Sure,  I  saw  nothin'  out  o'  way,  Peter, 
but  ye'll  not  mention  that  same.  Thim  gam 
blers  is  pizen,  an'  the  quickest  way  o'  gettin' 
rid  o'  thim  was  the  best." 

And  Peter  barked  loudly  and  wagged  the 
remains  of  his  tail. 


XI 

THE  NEW  POKER  RULE  MADE  IN  ARKANSAS 

IT  seemed  a  pity,  after  peace  had  pre 
vailed  so  long  in  Brownsville,  to  have  Long 
Mike  and  Gallagher  at  odds  again.  The 
big  man  had  made  no  attempt  for  fully  a 
year  and  a  half  to  kill  his  foreman,  and  men 
had  thought  the  feud  was  past,  yet  once 
again  the  smaller  man  was  now  seeking 
safety  while  Long  Mike  raged  like  a  lion  in 
his  quest  for  his  old-time  foe. 

"  Sure  I  do  be  thinkin'  we'll  niver  have 
peace  in  th'  place  widout  a  firsht-class  killin'. 
Tis  th'  only  thing  as'll  shtill  th'  atmosh- 
phere,"  said  Stumpy. 

It  had  broken  out  over  a  game  of  poker, 
but  no  man  knew  whether  the  smouldering 
embers  of  hatred  had  blazed  up  at  a  chance 
word,  or  whether  some  fresh  spark  had  been 
kindled  by  the  friction  of  the  game. 

128 


THE  NEW  POKER  RULE      129 

Jim  Titherton  had  been  greatly  aston 
ished.  Titherton  was  a  gentleman  of  more 
or  less  elegant  leisure,  who  spent  much  of  his 
time  travelling  up  and  down  the  Mississippi 
River,  stopping  frequently  at  the  smaller 
towns  where  the  boats  landed,  but  very  sel 
dom  at  any  of  the  cities.  Ashore  he  was 
never  known  to  busy  himself  in  any  recog 
nized  commercial  pursuit,  but  he  was  always 
ready  and  willing  to  play  a  game  of  cards 
with  anybody  who  was  properly  qualified 
to  play. 

He  had  been  in  Brownsville  for  two  days, 
and  had  already  begun  to  look  for  the  ar 
rival  of  the  next  boat,  finding  that  Browns 
ville  was  not  overanxious  to  play  cards  with 
strangers,  when  somewhat  to  his  surprise 
Long  Mike  invited  him  to  play. 

Of  itself,  this  was  a  fact  requiring  ex 
planation,  but  the  further  fact  that  Long 
Mike  had  started  in  made  it  unnecessary  to 
seek  any  explanation  for  anything  he  might 
do.  There  was  only  one  thing  certain  about 
Long  Mike's  actions  once  he  started  in,  and 


130 STAND   PAT 

that  was  that  he  would  do  whatever  would 
naturally  be  least  expected. 

When  he  challenged  Mr.  Titherton  to  a 
game  of  draw-poker,  however,  something 
like  consternation  was  immediately  manifest 
among  the  other  occupants  of  the  barroom. 
One  evidence  of  the  simplicity  of  life  in 
Brownsville  was  that  Sam  had  never  found 
it  necessary  to  adopt  a  name  for  his  saloon. 
It  did  not  have  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
other  barrooms,  because  there  were  no  others. 

In  consequence,  the  main  part  of  the  male 
population  of  Brownsville  sat  in  Sam's  place 
evenings,  and  when  the  leading  citizen  of 
the  place,  being  not  too  completely  in  com 
mand  of  all  his  faculties,  proposed  to  play 
poker  with  a  stranger  who  was  known  to 
have  suspicious  ability  as  a  player,  to  say 
the  least,  it  was  realized  that  a  common  peril 
impended;  for  Long  Mike  was  not  only  the 
chief  capitalist  and  the  sole  employer  of 
labour  in  the  place,  but  he  was  also  known 
to  be  entirely  reckless  when  he  was  well 
started,  and  capable  of  playing  away  his 
entire  earthly  possessions.  Mr.  Titherton, 


THE  NEW  POKER  RULE      131 

therefore,  stood  to  win  practically  all  the 
money  in  Brownsville  unless  something  was 
done  promptly. 

It  was  true  that  Long  Mike  was  lucky. 
It  was  one  of  the  traditions  of  Brownsville, 
and  the  story  had  travelled  both  up  and 
down  the  river,  that  nobody  could  win  money 
from  Long  Mike  in  a  square  game,  provided 
that  gentleman  kept  sober  enough  to  count 
his  chips.  But  Brownsville  realized  that 
luck  alone  was  not  likely  to  avail  much  to 
the  man  who  played  single-handed  with  Mr. 
Titherton. 

The  obvious  expedient,  therefore,  was  to 
increase  the  number  of  players  in  the  game. 
It  seemed  certain  that  if  Titherton  and  Long 
Mike  played  a  two-handed  game,  disaster 
would  befall,  but  if  several  others  should  sit 
in,  there  would  at  least  be  the  chance  of 
frustrating  any  schemes  of  iniquitous  play 
that  might  be  instituted,  and  there  would  be 
the  further  possibility  of  breaking  the  game 
up  by  force  of  arms  in  case  the  disaster 
should  become  imminent. 

It  was  usually  Stumpy  who  spoke  first,  and 


132 STAND    PAT 

this  occasion  proved  to  be  no  exception. 
Knowing  the  uncertain  temper  of  his  boss, 
he  realized  the  necessity  for  diplomacy,  and 
therefore  spoke  as  one  who  might  address 
the  entire  atmosphere: 

"  Av  it  wasn't  for  me  bein'  th'  cr-rack 
player  in  Brownsville,  maybe  it's  me  'ud 
be  as't  for  to  take  a  hand,  I  don't  know. 
Sure,  it  'd  be  loike  takin'  a  bottle  o'  milk 
from  a  babby.  It  'd  be  a  sin  f'r  me  to  play." 

Long  Mike  looked  at  him  uncertainly  for 
a  time.  Then  he  laughed  contemptuously. 

"  Since  when  did  ye  1'arn  the  game, 
Stumpy?  "  he  said.  "  Sure,  it  was  last  week 
I  bluffed  ye  out  on  a  pair  o'  deuces." 

"  There's  ne'er  a  man  this  side  o'  Mem 
phis,"  replied  Stumpy,  steadily,  "  can  bate 
me  at  th'  game,  barrin'  it's  Gallagher,  yan- 
der,  an'  maybe  Ferguson,  av  he  have  the 
luck." 

"  It's  Gallagher,  is  it?  "  said  Long  Mike, 
his  face  darkening  at  the  mention  of  the 
name.  "  An'  Ferguson.  An'  you.  Sure  it's 
a  foine  pair  the  three  av  yez  is.  Belike  anny 
wan  o'  yez  'd  play  betther  blindfold.  But 


THE  NEW  POKER  RULE      133 

there,  then,  the  more  o'  yez  cooms  in,  the 
more  money  there'll  be  in  th'  game.  We'll 
play  five-handed." 

It  took  no  diagram  of  the  situation  to  ex 
plain  matters  to  Gallagher  and  Ferguson, 
and  it  is  proper  to  say  that  they  saw  their 
duty  and  did  it  like  men,  though  it  is  certain 
that  neither  of  them  had  any  more  relish  for 
the  undertaking  than  had  Stumpy.  Their 
loyalty  to  Long  Mike  was  greatly  stimulated 
by  the  realization  of  the  peril  to  the  common 
interest  involved  in  his  playing  single-handed 
against  Mr.  Titherton,  and  they  took  their 
places  at  the  card-table  unhesitatingly. 

Moreover,  they  took  their  places  beside 
one  another,  and  so  contrived,  without  seem 
ing  to  contrive,  that  Long  Mike  should  sit 
on  Titherton's  left,  leaving  the  latter  gentle 
man,  to  say  the  least,  with  no  advantage  of 
position.  It  would  be  his  say  in  each  round 
before  Long  Mike's,  so  that  he  could  not 
model  his  play  on  the  latter's. 

For,  it  should  be  explained,  Brownsville's 
dislike  to  playing  with  strangers  came  from 
no  lack  of  science,  or  skill,  or  courage.  It 


134 STAND   PAT 

arose  merely  from  the  fact  that  manual  dex 
terity  in  the  deal  was  the  one  thing  which 
Brownsville  could  not  boast.  In  all  other 
respects,  the  Brownsville  game  of  poker  was 
well  up  to  the  Mississippi  River  standard. 

They  made  the  game  table  stakes,  and 
each  man  flashed  fifty  dollars  for  a  starter. 
They  were  used  to  a  moderate  game,  but 
they  all  knew  that  it  was  liable  to  grow  to 
much  greater  dimensions  if  Long  Mike 
should  become  excited. 

For  the  first  few  rounds,  however,  there 
was  no  great  excitement.  The  hands  ran 
tolerably  well,  two  flushes  and  a  full  being 
shown  inside  of  twenty  minutes,  with  a 
straight  and  several  threes,  but  no  strong 
hands  were  out  together,  and  there  was  no 
contest  of  any  importance. 

Then  came  what  looked  at  first  like  a 
struggle.  It  was  Stumpy's  deal,  and  Fer 
guson  had  put  up  the  ante,  fifty  call  a 
dollar. 

Titherton  came  in,  and  so  did  Long 
Mike.  Gallagher  raised  it  two  dollars. 
Stumpy  and  Ferguson  dropped,  and  Tither- 


THE  NEW  POKER  RULE      135 

ton  made  it  three  more.  That  was  a  suffi 
cient  indication  to  Long  Mike,  and  he  passed 
it  up  to  Gallagher,  who  promptly  raised  it 
five. 

Titherton  threw  in  his  five  and  called  for 
two  cards.  Gallagher  called  for  one,  and 
Titherton  threw  in  a  white  chip.  Gallagher 
looked  at  his  draw  carefully,  and  pushed 
his  entire  pile  into  the  pot. 

Thereupon  Titherton  studied  for  a  full 
minute.  He  looked  keenly  at  his  antago 
nist's  face,  and  then  he  looked  at  his  own 
hand  again.  And  lastly  he  counted  his  chips, 
as  if  intending  to  call,  keeping  his  head  bent 
down,  but  watching  Gallagher  meantime 
out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye.  Then  suddenly 
he  threw  down  his  cards. 

Gallagher  said  nothing  as  he  drew  in  the 
pot,  but  there  was  a  slight  twitching  at  one 
corner  of  his  mouth  which  led  those  who 
knew  him  best  to  suspect  that  he  had  not 
filled  his  flush.  As  this  was  no  longer  a 
matter  of  any  importance  nothing  was  said 
about  it. 

Ferguson  dealt  next,  and  as  no  one  caught 


136 STAND    PAT 

a  hand,  the  cards  passed  to  Titherton,  and 
he  dealt  for  a  jack-pot. 

It  had  not  escaped  Mr.  Titherton's  notice, 
previous  to  this  deal,  that  his  manner  of 
handling  the  cards  had  been  the  subject  of 
close  scrutiny,  but  he  had  not  deemed  it 
expedient  to  say  anything  about  it.  Now, 
however,  as  he  began  to  serve  the  cards  after 
the  cut,  he  was  somewhat  astonished  to  see 
three  of  the  players  lean  suddenly  forward, 
so  that  their  faces  were  within  a  foot  of  the 
table,  and  to  notice  that  three  pairs  of  eyes 
seemed  to  be  fixed  intently  on  his  fingers. 

"  What  the  ?  "  he  exclaimed  in  sur 
prise,  and,  stopping  the  deal,  he  glared  for 
a  moment  at  each  of  the  three  in  turn. 

They  looked  at  him  blandly  in  return,  but 
volunteered  no  explanation,  and  he  went  on 
dealing,  red  with  anger,  but  saying  nothing 
more. 

Long  Mike  had  apparently  taken  no  no 
tice  of  all  this,  being  occupied  with  some 
red  liquor  that  Sam  had  brought  to  him  in 
response  to  his  rather  boisterous  demand, 
but  when  he  had  received  his  cards  he 


THE  NEW  POKER  RULE      137 

looked  at  them  carelessly  and  promptly 
opened  the  pot  for  the  size  of  it. 

When  the  others  had  seen  their  cards,  they 
all  came  in,  up  to  the  dealer,  and  he  raised 
it  ten  dollars.  Long  Mike  hesitated,  as  if 
about  to  raise  it  back,  but  evidently  decided 
that  he  was  not  in  a  good  place  for  that  play, 
so  he  merely  made  good. 

Gallagher  and  Stumpy  both  came  in  on 
the  raise,  but  Ferguson  dropped.  Long 
Mike  then  called  for  two  cards,  and  as  Tith- 
erton  picked  up  the  deck  to  serve  him  the 
three  leaned  forward  again  and  watched  the 
dealer's  fingers  as  they  had  done  before. 

Again  Titherton  paused,  as  if  he  had  in 
mind  to  resent  the  insult,  and  again  he 
thought  better  of  it,  and  went  on  with  the 
deal.  Gallagher  took  one  card  and  Stumpy 
took  two,  but  they  did  not  move  to  pick  them 
up,  keeping  their  eyes  fixed  on  Titherton. 

"The  dealer  takes  one,"  said  Titherton, 
and  he  dropped  one  card  alongside  his  hand, 
which  lay  in  front  of  him. 

Then  the  three  straightened  up  and  looked 
at  one  another,  as  if  greatly  astonished. 


138 STAND    PAT 

"  Is  thot  the  reg'lar  game?"  asked  Gal 
lagher. 

"  It  is,"  said  Stumpy.  "  Thot  is,  it's  the 
new  rule  they've  made  in  Arkansas.  Maybe 
it's  rig'lar  on  th'  river  now,  I  don't  know. 
In  Arkansas  the  dealer  has  th'  privilege  o' 
ta-akin'  a  card  from  the  bottom  or  the  top, 
av  ye  don't  see  ut." 

"  But  how  if  you  see  ut?  "  asked  Galla 
gher. 

"Thot  depinds,"  said  Stumpy.  "On  th' 
boats  they  shoot,  but  on  shore  the  dealer 
gen'ly  goes  over  the  levee,  an'  all  hangs  on 
how  he  can  shwim." 

"I'll  bet  ten  dollars,"  said  Long  Mike, 
throwing  the  money  in  the  pot. 

He  had  been  looking  rather  confusedly 
at  his  cards  while  the  others  talked,  not  pay 
ing  attention  to  what  they  said.  But  Tither- 
ton  interposed. 

"  Hold  on  a  minute,"  he  exclaimed,  laying 
his  hand  down  in  front  of  him  and  putting 
some  chips  on  the  five  cards. 

He  moved  and  spoke  very  deliberately. 

"Will  you  gentlemen  be  good  enough  to 


THE  NEW  POKER  RULE      139 

explain  what  you  are  talking  about? "  he 
demanded. 

"We  will,"  said  Stumpy.  "We  was  dis- 
cussin'  a  new  rule  in  dhraw-poker." 

"  Ut  were  called  to  moind,"  said  Galla 
gher,  "  by  a  slight  pecooliarity  av  yer  digital 


manoeuvres." 


They  said  that  Gallagher  had  once  been 
a  schoolmaster. 

"  You're  a  liar,"  said  Titherton,  that  being 
the  next  regular  move  in  the  game,  and,  as 
custom  required,  he  pulled  his  gun  at  the 
same  instant  and  covered  Gallagher. 

Three  other  revolvers  appeared  at  the 
same  instant,  and  if  Long  Mike  had  not  been 
a  person  of  almost  preternatural  promptness, 
there  would  have  been  gun-play  if  not  blood 
shed  in  the  room.  He  moved  like  a  cat, 
however,  and  Titherton's  gun  went  spinning 
across  the  room  before  he  could  pull  the 
trigger.  Long  Mike  had  seized  his  wrist 
and  shaken  it,  and  the  bones  came  near  snap 
ping. 

"  Ye'll  cease  yer  palaver,  an'  play  the 
hand,"  said  the  big  man,  as  angry  as  the 


140 STAND    PAT 

others.  "  Av  there's  foightin'  to  do,  ye'll 
do  it  afther.  An'  if  ye're  afther  takin'  a 
card  from  the  bottom  o'  the  deck,  ye'll  kape 
it  an'  Oi'll  play  ye  annyhow.  But  that 
omadhaun  there,  he's  no  liar.  Oi'll  say  that 
for  him.  But  he'll  settle  wi'  me  later  for 
breakin'  up  this  play." 

But  this  amazing  proposition  met  with  no 
favour  from  any  one.  Titherton  struggled 
like  a  wild  beast  in  his  rage,  but  was  unable 
to  free  himself,  though  he  began  to  bite  at 
Long  Mike's  fingers,  and  the  others  sprang 
to  their  feet. 

"  Don't  shoot,"  said  Stumpy,  putting  away 
his  gun.  "  Let's  run  the  spalpeen  into  the 
river."  And  the  other  two  started  to  help 
him. 

But  Long  Mike  was  aroused  by  the  pain 
of  a  sharp  bite,  and  his  temper  gave  way. 
His  strength  was  as  the  strength  of  seven 
men,  and  he,  too,  arose,  knocking  the  table 
over  as  he  lunged  forward.  Seizing  Tither 
ton  with  both  hands  he  lifted  him  high  in  the 
air  and  threw  him  violently  against  the  wall, 
whence  he  fell  unconscious  to  the  floor. 


THE  NEW  POKER  RULE      141 

Then  the  big  man  made  a  rush  for  Galla 
gher. 

"Oi'll  kill  yez  this  time!"  he  exclaimed, 
and  Gallagher  knew  that  he  would. 

It  was,  therefore,  small  wonder  that  he 
dodged  under  Long  Mike's  arm  and  made 
a  flying  leap  through  the  window,  carrying 
sash  and  all  with  him. 

There  was  a  frantic  pursuit,  but  Gallagher 
had  gained  a  few  seconds  of  a  start  and  was 
nowhere  to  be  found.  After  a  good  part 
of  the  night  had  been  spent  in  fruitless 
search,  they  bethought  them  of  Titherton, 
and  went  back  to  look  for  him,  but  he  had 
recovered  consciousness  and  had  made  his 
escape  also. 

"  Sure  it's  a  pity  we  didn't  throw  him  in 
the  river  whin  he  were  stunned,  an'  he'd 
niver  ha'  knowed  th'  difference,"  said 
Stumpy,  discontentedly. 

But  Long  Mike  raged  as  was  his  fashion, 
and  called  for  red  liquor  many  times,  breath 
ing  out  threats  of  what  he  would  do  on  the 
morrow,  till  the  others  saw  that  it  was  neces- 


142 STAND    PAT 

sary  to  encourage  him  in  his  effort  to  get 
a  sufficiency  of  liquor. 

And  when  they  had  finally  accomplished 
this,  and  had  put  him  safely  in  his  own  bed, 
Stumpy  said  again: 

"  Sure  there'll  be  no  such  thing  as  livin' 
quiet  an'  peaceable  in  Brownsville  till  we 
have  a  firsht-class  killin'.  But  Oi  do  be 
thinkin'  it'll  not  be  Gallagher.  He  do  get 
away  too  often." 


XII 

A  STRANGER  AND   FOND  OF  POKER 

THE  Mississippi  River  packet  City  of 
Natchez  had  been  tied  up  at  the  levee  in 
Arkansas  City  for  possibly  half  an  hour. 
The  passengers  who  wanted  to  go  ashore 
had  gone,  all  but  one,  and  the  roustabouts 
were  struggling  with  the  freight  under  the 
inspiring  influence  of  the  mate's  energetic 
comments. 

Possibly  because  of  their  terrified  condi 
tion,  resulting  from  the  mate's  flow  of  lan 
guage,  but  more  probably  because  of  their 
total  indifference  to  consequences,  they  paid 
no  attention  whatever  to  a  short,  red-headed 
gentleman  who  might  perhaps  have  been 
born  in  Ireland,  and  who  came  strolling 
from  the  direction  of  the  boat's  barroom 
toward  the  single  gangplank,  now  in  use  by 
the  freight  department. 

143 


144 STAND    PAT    

Even  as  they  paid  no  attention  to  him, 
he  paid  none  to  them,  but  approached  the 
gangplank  somewhat  unsteadily,  with  the 
evident  intention  of  going  ashore.  The 
mate's  attention  for  the  moment  was  fixed 
on  some  point  at  the  other  side  of  the  deck, 
or  it  is  a  moral  certainty  that  he  would  have 
interposed  language  of  sufficient  strength 
to  arrest  the  belated  passenger's  progress. 

As  it  happened,  however,  there  was  none 
to  warn  him  of  his  danger,  and  he  stepped 
in  debonair  fashion  on  the  sloping  gang 
plank,  serenely  unconscious  of  the  fact  that 
four  huge  darkies  were  coming  behind  him, 
bearing  a  case  of  goods  on  their  shoulders 
that  must  have  weighed  something  like  a 
thousand  pounds. 

It  is  an  open  question  whether  they  saw 
that  he  was  in  their  way,  but  it  is  absolutely 
certain  that  they  recognized  no  obligation 
on  their  part  to  shout  a  warning.  On  they 
came,  jog-trotting  along  till  they  were  only 
a  single  pace  behind  him,  when  he  either 
tripped  or  slipped,  and,  staggering,  seemed 
about  to  fall.  Had  he  fallen  and  so  tripped 


A    STRANGER 145 

the  rousters,  the  matter  would  have  been 
serious  indeed. 

Just  as  he  lost  his  balance,  a  sinewy  hand 
was  stretched  forth  from  somewhere  in  the 
darkness,  for  it  was  late  at  night,  and  catch 
ing  the  tottering  gentleman  by  the  lapel  of 
his  coat,  gave  him  such  a  mighty  and  over 
mastering  yank  that  he  darted  forward  on 
the  double-quick  for  thirty  or  forty  feet,  and 
fell  all  in  a  heap  on  the  levee.  As  he  lay 
there,  he  was  hopelessly  undignified  in  ap 
pearance,  but  he  was  out  of  the  path  of  the 
roustabouts. 

Quite  as  if  nothing  whatever  had  hap 
pened,  he  looked  up  at  his  unknown  pre 
server,  who  could  now  be  seen  indistinctly, 
and  said  in  a  conversational  tone: 

"  Sure,  Oi  do  be  think  (hie)  thinkin'  the 
citizens  o'  this  (hie)  this  town  is  domned 
hard  oop  fer  popu  (hie)  population.  Does 
yez  git  ivery  (hie)  iverybody  ashore,  loike 
(hie)  iverybody  (hie)  does  yez  — " 

Here  his  voice  trailed  ofT  to  a  murmur, 
and  it  seemed  probable  to  the  tall,  powerful 
man  who  stood  over  him  that  he  was  likely 


146 STAND    PAT 

to  go  to  sleep  where  he  lay  if  something 
were  not  done  promptly.  Promptness,  how 
ever,  was  a  prominent  characteristic  of  Mr. 
Joseph  Bassett,  the  sheriff  of  the  county, 
and  the  stranger  speedily  arose,  a  wetter  and 
a  soberer  man  —  likewise  an  angrier. 

With  these  various  considerations  Joe  Bas 
sett  was  no  whit  concerned  excepting  that 
the  fact  of  the  stranger  having  been  aroused 
made  his  own  duty  somewhat  easier  of  per 
formance.  As  the  short  man  began  sputter 
ing  in  a  peculiarly  red-headed  fashion,  Joe 
calmly  interrupted  him. 

"  It's  ag'in  the  law,  stranger,  f  r  any  galoot 
f  m  off'n  a  boat  fer  to  go  an'  git  hisself  killed 
on  the  levee  in  Arkansas  City  by  a  packin'- 
case  or  any  other  murderous  weepin  in  the 
hands  o'  roustabouts  or  anybody  else.  Tears 
to  me  you  must  be  a  stranger  in  these 
parts.  Ever  been  into  a  town  of  any  size 
afore?" 

The  short  man  continued  to  sputter  as  if 
nothing  had  been  said,  so  Joe  looked  at  him 
with  mild  curiosity  for  a  moment,  and  then 
said: 


A    STRANGER 147 

"  Hyer  now.  That'll  be  about  enough. 
I'd  ought  for  to  arrest  you  for  disturbin' 
the  peace  o'  them  roustabouts,  but  if  you've 
got  money  enough  to  settle  a  hotel  bill,  I 
reckon  I  might  better  take  you  there.  Have 
ye?" 

"  Oi  have,"  said  the  little  man. 

"What's  your  name?"  asked  the  sheriff, 
presuming  on  his  official  position  to  disre 
gard  a  point  of  strict  etiquette  in  the  com 
munity. 

"  Mostly  they  do  be  callin'  me  Stumpy, 
whin  Oi'm  at  home  in  Brownsville,"  said  the 
little  man,  whose  wrath  seemed  to  have 
cooled  as  the  water  dripped  off  his  face. 
"  Av  thot's  a  good  enough  name  for  Browns 
ville,  sure  it'll  do  here." 

"  Come  along  then,  Stumpy,"  said  the 
sheriff,  good-naturedly,  as  he  linked  his  arm 
in  the  little  man's  and  steadied  his  steps 
toward  the  hotel  across  the  street. 

The  landlord  had  no  scruples  against  dis 
pensing  red  liquor  to  any  man  who  was  in 
the  company  of  the  sheriff,  and  it  came 
about  that  the  three  had  sundry  drinks  which 


148 STAND   PAT 

Stumpy  paid  for  with  great  cheerfulness 
before  going  to  bed. 

Soon  after  he  had  done  this,  Mr.  Bassett 
dropped  in  at  old  man  Greenhut's  saloon, 
and  after  some  irrelevant  remarks  reported 
the  presence  of  a  stranger  in  town. 

"What's  he  like?"  demanded  Greenhut. 

"Well,  he's  red-headed  an'  I  reckon  he's 
Irish,  but  'pears  like  he  had  some  money. 
He  didn't  flash  no  wad,  but  he  ain't  no  ways 
mean  with  his  loose  change." 

"  You  can't  al'ays  tell,"  said  old  man 
Greenhut.  "  The  Good  Book  says,  '  Him 
that  hath,  keeps,  an'  f'm  him  that  hath  not, 
the  loose  change  ofttimes  leaks.'  Still,  it's 
worth  lookin'  into.  Some  o'  you  boys  had 
better  be  up  to  the  hotel  when  he  gets  round. 
Maybe  he  might  have  a  likin'  f'r  draw- 
poker." 

Accordingly,  it  happened  that  when 
Stumpy  came  down  to  the  hotel  barroom 
next  morning  in  search  of  an  appetite,  he 
discovered  a  couple  of  strangers  there  who 
were  by  no  means  unsociably  disposed.  Fur 
ther,  he  discovered  that  they  were  Jake 


A    STRANGER 149 

Winterbottom  and  Sam  Pearsall  by  name, 
citizens  of  Arkansas  City,  who  esteemed  it 
a  privilege  to  make  strangers  acquainted 
with  the  resources  of  the  place  in  the  way 
of  sports  and  pastimes. 

Several  of  these  were  mentioned,  but  it 
appeared  that  horse-racing  was  out  of  sea 
son,  and  there  had  been  no  cock-fights  ar 
ranged  for  the  day.  In  fact,  the  only  amuse 
ment  available,  so  far  as  these  two  could 
say,  was  a  quiet  game  of  draw  which  was 
likely  to  be  started  at  any  hour  in  Greenhut's 
back  room. 

"  Gintlemen,  OPm  wid  yez,"  said  Stumpy. 
"  We  do  be  playin'  dhraw-poker  in  Browns 
ville  whiles,  but  it's  more  f  r  th'  spoort  we 
play  nor  the  money." 

Mr.  Winterbottom  and  Mr.  Pearsall 
heartily  agreed  that  the  game  ought  always 
to  be  played  for  sport  rather  than  for  money. 
In  fact,  they  said,  the  game  was  always 
played  in  Greenhut's  place  for  sport.  Some 
times,  when  the  players  got  warmed  up,  the 
stakes  grew  rather  large,  but  usually  it  was 


150 STAND   PAT 

a  small  game  carried  on  for  amusement  and 
the  promotion  of  Greenhut's  bar  trade. 

"  Has  he  a  bar?  "  demanded  Stumpy. 

They  assured  him  that  he  had  an  excel 
lent  bar,  and  Stumpy  demanded  that  they 
should  all  three  go  forthwith  to  Greenhut's. 
As  neither  of  the  others  had  any  objection, 
they  were  soon  sampling  Greenhut's  liq 
uor. 

In  paying  for  the  drinks  Stumpy  showed 
a  roll  of  respectable  size  containing  at  least 
a  few  fives  and  tens,  so  no  one  showed  any 
reluctance  in  joining  the  game  which 
Stumpy  himself  proposed,  and  five  players 
presently  bought  chips  in  the  back  room, 
Bassett  and  Plunkitt  joining  the  two  who 
had  invited  the  stranger  in. 

"  One  o'  th'  most  interestin'  stories  in  the 
Good  Book,"  remarked  old  man  Greenhut 
to  the  little  group  that  remained  with  him 
in  the  front  of  the  saloon,  "  is  that  there 
yarn  about  the  ravens  that  fetched  food  to 
Joseph  when  his  brethren  pitched  him  in  a 
pit.  Nobody  knowed  where  them  ravens 
come  from,  but  they  fetched  Joseph  so  much 


"IN  PAYING  FOR  THE  DRINKS  STUMPS  SHOWED  A  ROLL 
OF  RESPECTABLE  SIZE." 


A    STRANGER 151 

corn  inside  o'  seven  year  't  him  an'  his  family 
fed  on  it  f'r  seven  year  more. 

"  Tears  like  there's  ravens  comin'  f  m 
up  the  river,  an'  f'm  down  the  river,  to 
feed  Arkansas  City.  This  here  bird  is  a 
trifle  off  colour  for  a  raven,  but  his  wad  looks 
good." 

In  the  back  room  things  were  not  quite 
satisfactory.  A  table  stakes  game  was  started 
and  each  man  bought  five  dollars'  worth  of 
chips.  The  local  talent  considered  this 
small,  but  Stumpy  said  they  always  began 
the  game  that  way  in  Brownsville,  and  they 
deferred  to  his  preference,  remembering  that 
it  was  always  possible  to  buy  more  chips 
and  so  increase  the  size  of  the  possible 
bet. 

Presently,  however,  it  appeared  that  there 
were  other  peculiarities  in  the  Brownsville 
game,  or  at  least  in  the  game  Stumpy  played. 
He  refused  to  come  in,  hand  after  hand, 
with  no  apparent  impatience  at  the  chipping 
out  process,  even  when  he  was  forced  to  buy 
his  second  five.  Then,  suddenly,  he  came 
in  without  looking  at  his  hand,  and  when 


152 STAND    PAT 

he  was  raised,  pushed  his  whole  pile  into  the 
pot. 

Winterbottom  had  three  sevens,  and  he 
saw  the  bet  unhesitatingly.  Pearsall  had 
nothing,  but  he  put  in  his  money  on  the 
theory  that  his  chance  was  as  good  as  any 
man's  who  had  not  looked  at  his  hand.  The 
sheriff,  with  one  pair,  considered  it  a  fair 
gamble,  and  Plunkitt  came  in  to  be  sociable. 

On  the  draw  Stumpy  stood  pat,  still  with 
out  looking  at  his  cards,  which  lay  face  down 
in  front  of  him.  Winterbottom  drew  two 
without  bettering,  and  neither  of  the  others 
improved  his  hand. 

As  Winterbottom  had  opened,  he  bet  a 
blue  chip  on  the  side,  which  the  sheriff 
called,  having  kings,  and  the  other  two  laid 
down.  Stumpy,  being  all  in,  was  not  af 
fected  by  the  side  betting,  and  let  his  cards 
remain  on  the  table. 

Winterbottom,  being  called,  showed  his 
three  sevens. 

"  That's  good,"  said  the  sheriff,  showing 
his  kings,  and  they  all  looked  at  Stumpy. 

"  Sure,   Oi   don't  know,"   he   said,   drolly, 


A    STRANGER 153 

"  but  Oi  do  be  thinkin'  maybe  Oi'll  bate 
thim  others, "  and  he  turned  his  cards  over 
one  at  a  time. 

The  first  four  were  diamonds,  and  he 
looked  at  Winterbottom. 

"  Have  yez  anny  propositions?  "  he  asked, 
with  a  grin. 

"  I  reckon  not,"  said  Winterbottom. 

"  Oi  thought  maybe  ye'd  be  afther  wantin' 
to  shplit  th'  pot.  Sure,  thim  diamonds  is 
mighty  pretty." 

"  Go  on,"  said  Jake,  impatiently. 

"Oh!  Very  well,"  said  Stumpy,  and  he 
turned  another  diamond. 

It  gave  him  nearly  sixteen  dollars  as 
against  the  ten  he  had  put  in,  and  after 
counting  it  carefully  he  said  he  guessed 
he'd  quit. 

At  this  there  was  a  chorus  of  protest. 
"  Do  you  mean  to  say  you've  got  four  North 
American  citizens  to  waste  half  an  hour 
for  you  to  win  six  dollars?  "  demanded  Pear- 
sail. 

"  It's  what  I  call  a  dirty  trick,"  said 
Plunkitt. 


154 STAND    PAT 

"  Aisy,  now,  aisy,"  said  Stumpy.  "  Oi  told 
yez  Oi  play  this  game  fer  spoort,  an'  OiVe 
had  all  the  spoort  Oi'm  loikely  to  have. 
Thim  things  don't  happen  twice.  Yez  needn't 
look  dangerous.  Oi'll  not  foight  yez,  on'y 
wan  at  a  toime.  Oi'm  Oirish,  but  Oi'm  not 
Oirish  enough  for  that.  Yez'll  all  have 
another  dhrink  with  me." 

And  that  was  all  the  Arkansas  City  players 
accomplished  with  Stumpy. 

After  he  had  gone  on  his  hilarious  way, 
old  man  Greenhut  looked  after  him  indig 
nantly,  and  said: 

"  I  reckon  them  ravens  that  fed  Joseph 
must  ha'  been  some  other  breed.  They  sure 
wa'n't  red-headed  blackbirds." 


XIII 

ON  HAND  JUST  ONCE 

"  IT  certainly  is  really  amazin',"  said  old 
man  Greenhut,  "  how  folks  keeps  on  a-missin' 
of  it,  all  their  lives,  by  not  bein'  on  the  spot. 
'N  IVe  noticed  always  that  the  folks  that 
ain't  thar  all  the  time  ain't  never  thar.  Once 
a  feller  gits  the  habit  o'  bein'  thar,  he's  al 
ways  thar,  but  once  he  gits  out  o'  the  habit, 
or  if  he  never  gits  it,  he  ain't  never  round 
when  the  grand  opportunity  comes,  and  just 
naturally  he  misses  it.  Don't  seem  to  make 
no  difference  how  likely  a  man  is,  or  how 
hard  he  may  try  to  git  a  holt  o'  the  persim 
mons  o'  luck  that  the  good  Lord  keeps 
a-growin'  all  the  time  for  everybody  that's 
got  the  gumption  to  knock  'em  off  the  bushes, 
he  don't  never  get  none  of  'em  'thout  he's 
thar,  an'  as  I  said,  such  folks  ain't  never 
thar. 

165 


156 STAND    PAT 

"  Now  thar's  Tenspot  Ike.  Thar  ain't  no 
capabler  feller  'n  him  in  town  V  everybody 
likes  him.  If  a  man  wants  to  stand  treat, 
thar  ain't  nobody  that'd  be  more  likely  to 
get  'nvited  than  him,  an'  yet  Ike,  he'll  set 
around  here  day  in  an'  day  out,  waitin'  for 
some  good  angel  to  step  down  an'  trouble 
the  pool  o'  Siloam,  the  same  bein'  a  bottle  o' 
good  old  rye  for  the  purpose  of  illustration, 
an'  thar  won't  be  nobody.  But  just  as  sartin 
as  some  open-hearted  friend  o'  humanity 
comes  along  with  a  ragin'  thirst  an'  the  price 
for  two,  Ike  ain't  around.  I  call  it  wicked 
an'  bad  for  trade  for  a  man  to  fly  in  the  face 
o'  Providence  like  that." 

The  old  man  looked  again  at  the  battered 
half-dollar  he  had  just  taken  in,  and  bit  on 
it  to  make  sure  it  was  good.  Then  looking 
once  more  into  his  cash-drawer  to  make  sure 
that  he  had  given  out  the  lead  quarter  in 
change  that  had  come  back  to  him  so  often, 
he  came  out  from  behind  the  bar  and  took 
his  favourite  seat  by  the  window. 

"  D'ye  ever  hear  how  Ike  come  to  be 
called  Tenspot?  "  he  asked  in  a  general  sort 


ON    HAND    JUST    ONCE       157 

of  way,  after  he  had  carefully  inspected  the 
stump  of  a  cigar  that  was  between  his  teeth 
as  usual,  and  had  lighted  it  up  again.  If 
anybody  had  ever  heard  the  story,  he  forbore 
to  speak,  and  the  old  man  kept  right  on 
talking. 

"  There  wasn't  never  nothin'  the  matter 
with  Ike,"  he  said,  "  except  that  pesky  habit 
o'  his  o'  bein'  always  somewheres  else.  You 
could  always  count  on  him  with  a  copper. 
'F  you  wanted  him  anywheres  special,  he 
wasn't  there.  I  remember  one  time  we'd 
ketched  a  hoss  thief  right  here  in  town,  V 
had  everythin'  ready  to  send  him  off  to  glory 
sudden  like,  exceptin'  for  a  Testament  to 
swear  the  witnesses  on,  an'  Ike  had  the  on'y 
copy  o'  the  Good  Book  there  was  in  town. 

"  Some  o'  the  boys  was  in  favour  o' 
swingin'  him  right  up  without  formalities, 
arguin'  that  as  long  as  we'd  ketched  him 
in  the  act,  an'  there  wa'n't  no  doubt  o'  what 
he  was  tryin'  to  do,  there  wa'n't  no  use  o' 
wastin'  time  on  a  trial,  but  I  says,  'No;  to 
do  that'd  degrade  Arkansas  City  to  the  level 
o'  barbarism,'  I  says,  '  or  a  second-class 


158 STAND    PAT 

minin'  settlement.  Sich  things  is  all  right/ 
I  says,  'whar  ther  ain't  no  civilization,  nor 
none  o'  the  refmin'  influences  o'  religion, 
but  Arkansas  City  ain't  no  such  place.  Let's 
hang  him  decent-like  an'  'cordin'  to  law,' 
I  says,  '  s'long's  we've  got  it  to  do.  An'  ther 
ain't  no  such  thing  as  legal  testimony,'  I 
says,  *  'thout  it's  sworn  to  on  the  Good  Book.' 
"  Well,  the  boys  was  reasonable,  an'  some 
of  'em  went  looking  for  Ike,  he  havin',  as  I 
said,  th'  on'y  copy  o'  th'  Testament  ther  was 
in  town.  'Course  he  wasn't  round  in  none 
o'  the  saloons  where  he  usually  kept  hisself, 
an'  while  they  was  a-lookin'  fer  him,  that 
pesky  hoss  thief  managed  some  ways  or  an 
other  to  git  away.  When  we  did  find  Ike, 
he  was  tryin'  to  teach  two  Chinamen,  that 
had  just  come  to  town  an'  was  in  a  fair  way 
to  starve  to  death  runnin'  a  laundry,  how 
to  play  poker.  '  Stands  to  reason,'  Ike  says, 
when  I  as't  him  how  he  come  to  do  it,  '  that 
them  unfortunate  heathen  wouldn't  never 
make  day's  wages,'  he  says,  *  runnin'  no 
laundry  here,  so  I  was  just  puttin'  'em  in 
a  way  to  make  an  honest  livin'  by  showin' 


ON    HAND    JUST    ONCE       159 

'em  the  principles  o'  draw-poker.'  He  give 
'em  a  fair  start,  too,  as  it  happened,  for  he 
dropped  seventeen  dollars  in  good  American 
money  in  that  little  missionary  enterprise  o' 
his'n.  The  boys  said  it  was  a  judgment  o' 
heaven  on  him  fer  not  bein'  where  he'd 
oughter  ha'  been,  as  he  usually  ain't,  besides 
bein'  a  grave  reflection  on  Arkansas  City  in 
lettin'  that  hoss  thief  git  off.  I  fined  the 
feller  the  drinks  that  had  business  to've  shot 
him  as  he  ran,  fer  not  havin'  his  gun  ready, 
an'  just  naturally  he  bought  'em  in  my  place, 
so  I  wasn't  none  the  loser,  but  it  was  a  great 
public  calamity.  I'd  most  rather  he  hadn't 
got  away. 

"  I  ain't  a-sayin'  but  what  Ike's  natural 
talent  fer  bein'  somewheres  else  was  a  bene 
fit  to  him  on  one  occasion.  That  was  when 
Bill  Briscom  was  found  in  the  road  with 
the  top  of  his  head  blowed  off.  We  all 
knowed  that  him  an'  Ike  had  had  a  serious 
difficulty  the  day  before,  an'  there  was  some 
talk  o'  holdin'  Ike  fer  trial  on  suspicion, 
but  Ike  he  heard  about  it,  just  naturally,  an' 
he  spoke  up  like  a  man :  i  I  ain't  a-sayin'  but 


160 STAND    PAT 

that  I'd  oughter  ha'  killed  the  feller,'  he 
says,  '  fer  I  caught  him  cheatin'  at  cards, 
an'  I  licked  him  good  an'  proper,  an'  the 
galoot  swore  he'd  shoot  me  on  sight,  but  it 
stands  to  reason,'  he  says,  '  that  in  order  to 
ha'  killed  him,  I'd  'a'  had  to  be  there  at  the 
time.  Now  I  leave  it  to  all  of  you  to  say 
whether  I  was  ever  whar  I'd  oughter  be  at 
the  time  when  I  was  needed.  You  all  know 
my  weakness,  gentlemen,'  he  says,  '  an'  I  ask 
you  to  join  me  in  drinkin'  to  the  memory  o' 
the  late  departed.  He  warn't  no  good,  but 
as  long  as  he's  gone  we  can  afford  to  forgive 
him  fer  all  he  done.' 

"Well,  that  settled  that  matter,  though 
some  o'  Briscom's  friends,  for  he  had  some 
friends  who  said  he  wasn't  half-bad,  an'  who 
kind  o'  thought  Ike  had  ought  for  to  own 
up  that  he  shot  him  in  a  fair  fight  —  them 
friends  was  disposed  to  push  the  matter  to 
a  trial.  But  I  says  to  'em,  *  You  can't  never 
convict  him,'  I  says.  '  Ike's  constitutional 
infirmity,'  I  says,  *  is  too  well  known  to  the 
community.  There  ain't  no  jury  in  this 
country,'  I  says,  *  that'd  find  him  guilty.' 


ON    HAND   JUST    ONCE       161 

"  But  that  ain't  tellin'  you  how  he  come 
to  be  called  Tenspot  Ike,"  said  the  old  man, 
suddenly  remembering  what  he  had  started 
to  say.  "  That  were  a  most  remarkable  story, 
an'  p'ints  several  morals.  In  the  first  place, 
it  were  the  on'y  time  in  his  life  that  Ike  was 
ever  knowed  to  be  on  hand  when  he  was 
wanted,  and  there's  no  manner  o'  doubt  it 
were  the  last.  Then  it  were  the  occasion  of 
a  most  miraculous  delivery  of  the  credit  an' 
cash  capital  of  Arkansas  City  from  eternal 
smash  by  means  of  a  casual  ten-spot  of  clubs 
that  Ike,  by  some  utterly  unaccountable  dis 
pensation  of  Providence,  happened  to  have 
in  his  pocket. 

"  The  way  of  it  was  this.  It  was  in  the 
time  o'  the  spring  floods,  an'  the  river  had 
been  up  for  nigh  two  months,  an'  Arkansas 
City  was  all  afloat  up  to  the  second  story, 
'xcept  on  the  levee.  There  were  a  boat  now 
an'  again,  of  course,  but  they'd  just  tie  up 
at  the  levee  for  a  few  minutes,  an'  the  folks 
that  had  been  thinkin'  o'  comin'  ashore 
would  just  look  around  for  a  spell,  kind  o' 
discouraged  like,  and  then  they'd  set  down 


162 STAND    PAT 

on  the  boat  again  an'  go  on  down  the  river, 
or  up,  as  the  case  might  be,  an'  you  couldn't 
blame  'em.  The  railroad  was  washed  away 
for  ten  miles  back,  an'  there  wasn't  no  other 
way  to  git  out  o'  town.  Just  naturally  folks 
took  the  way  they  was  sure  of,  there  bein' 
nothin'  to  stay  here  for.  There  bein'  no 
strangers  in  town,  the  boys  played  poker 
among  themselves  pretty  constant,  for  there 
wasn't  nothin'  else  to  do  while  the  river  was 
up,  an'  after  the  first  five  weeks  the  entire 
cash  capital  of  the  place  was  in  the  posses 
sion  of  two  men.  It  was  a  case  o'  what  the 
Good  Book  tells  about  when  it  says  that  him 
as  has  shall  win,  and  him  that  has  nothin' 
shall  lose  that  which  he  seemeth  to  have. 
Jim  Harris  and  Pete  Barlow  won  everything 
in  sight,  an'  there  wasn't  another  man  in 
town  among  the  sporting  set  that  had  a  dol 
lar  to  his  name.  'Course  there  was  some  of 
us  taxpayers  that  didn't  play  frequent,  that 
had  money  in  the  bank,  but  the  sports  was  all 
flat  broke  'xcept  them  two.  We  was  all  look 
ing  for  them  to  come  together  an'  for  one  of 
'em  to  eat  the  other  up,  but  for  some  reason 


ON    HAND    JUST    ONCE       163 

they  didn't,  each  bein'  more  or  less  afraid 
of  the  other  as  near  as  I  c'd  figger  it.  Pete 
an'  Ike  was  good  friends,  but  Jim  Harris 
hated  Ike  like  p'ison  for  reasons  of  his  own, 
an'  Ike  like  a  good  Christian  was  always 
lookin'  for  a  chance  to  pile  red-hot  coals  on 
him. 

"  Well,  just  then  some  crossroads  gambler 
from  Mississippi  come  along  the  river 
lookin'  for  blood.  He'd  raked  one  or  two 
other  towns  clean,  an'  just  naturally  arrove 
here  with  a  wad  bigger'n  his  head.  He 
drifted  around  the  first  day  tryin'  to  get 
acquainted,  an'  some  o'  the  boys  spotted  him, 
an'  lost  no  time  in  tellin'  our  two  capitalists 
about  him  an'  his  wad.  Thar  was  some 
backin'  an'  fillin',  but  the  second  day  the 
three  come  together  right  here  in  this  room 
an'  after  some  talk  got  to  playin'  cards. 
The  news  got  around  an'  the  room  was  tol'- 
able  nigh  full  o'  the  boys.  All  of  'em  was 
pinin'  for  the  destruction  o'  that  stranger,  just 
for  the  sake  of  encouragin'  home  talent,  but 
there  wasn't  many  of  'em  that  cared  whether 
Harris  or  Barlow'd  git  away  with  him,  so 


164 STAND    PAT 

long  as  one  of  'em  should  do  the  trick.  Ike 
was  here,  o'  course.  If  he'd  had  money 
enough  to  set  into  the  game  I  s'pose  he'd 
ha'  been  in  Little  Rock,  but  bein'  as  there 
wasn't  no  earthly  probability  o'  his  bein' 
wanted  here,  he  was  just  naturally  here. 
But  the  dispensation  o'  Providence  is  very 
often  mysterious  an'  he  turned  out  to  be  the 
chosen  instrument  o'  heaven  for  the  salvation 
of  Arkansas  City. 

"  They  played  an'  played  for  six  or  seven 
hours,  settin'  'em  up  for  the  house  once  in 
awhile  by  way  of  a  kitty,  but  none  of  'em  git- 
tin'  much  ahead.  Just  naturally  the  boys  all 
stayed.  I  don't  never  give  'em  too  much 
credit  when  they're  broke,  for  fear  of  encour- 
agin'  'em  in  pernicious  habits,  an'  they  was  a 
pretty  dry  lot.  They  was  a-watchin'  the  game 
close,  an'  stood  around  tol'able  close,  but  o' 
course  not  crowdin'  the  players.  Ike  stood  a 
little  behind  Barlow,  lookin'  over  his  left 
shoulder,  but  o'  course  sayin'  nothin'.  We 
didn't  s'pose  he  could  see  what  cards  was  held, 
no  more  than  the  rest  of  us,  for  all  three 
men  was  playin'  close  to  their  chests,  as  was 


ON    HAND   JUST    ONCE       165 

natural.  It  seems,  though,  that  Ike  has  eyes 
consid'able  better'n  the  average  hawk,  an' 
he  was  keepin'  tabs  on  the  game  right  smart. 

"  It  come  Jim  Harris's  deal,  an'  I  noticed 
the  stranger  give  a  sort  of  a  little  start  as  he 
watched  the  cards  droppin'.  Then  he  looked 
at  his  hand  an'  I  see  his  face  change  just  the 
least  little.  He  seemed  to  hesitate  a  little 
an'  then  he  reached  into  his  pocket  an'  pulled 
out  his  gun,  an'  laid  it  on  the  table  alongside 
of  his  cards.  '  It's  kind  of  uncomfortable 
settin'  on  the  end  of  it,'  he  says  with  a  little 
grin,  which  we  all  understood  well  enough. 
Pete  Barlow  did,  anyhow,  for  he  dropped  his 
cards  on  the  table  almost  before  he  had 
lifted  them,  and  flashed  out  his  own  gun. 
'  That's  so.  'Tis  uncomfortable,'  he  says, 
as  he  lays  it  on  the  table.  Jim  Harris,  he 
warn't  far  behind,  an'  when  he  lays  out  his 
weapon  he  says,  '  I  might  as  well  be  in  the 
fashion.' 

"  Just  naturally  we  all  understood  what 
all  that  meant,  but  we  warn't  any  of  us 
expectin'  what  followed.  It  were  fairly 
amazin'.  Ike  reached  over  in  front  o'  Pete 


166 STAND    PAT 

Barlow  an'  grabbed  his  pistol,  sayin'  as  he 
did  so,  '  You  look  after  your  playin',  Pete. 
If  there's  goin'  to  be  any  shootin'  done,  I'll 
shoot  for  you.' 

"  Now  I  reckon  there  couldn't  be  no 
worse  break  made  than  that,  an'  I  looked 
to  see  Pete  break  out  in  a  blaze  o'  wrath, 
but  I  was  clean  flabbergasted  when  he 
looked  up  pleasant  an'  smiled  an'  said:  '  All 
right,  Ike.'  I  was  clean  flabbergasted  an' 
I  never  understood  the  thing  at  all  till  Ike 
explained  it  to  me  afterward. 

"  '  You  see  Harris  had  boxed  the  cards,' 
he  says,  i  an'  the  stranger  seen  it.  That's  why 
he  pulled  his  gun.  I  seen  that  Pete  had 
three  tens  an'  a  pair  o'  aces,  an'  I  guessed 
the  rest.  Now,  it  was  a  clean  plumb  mir 
acle,  but  I  happened  to  have  a  ten  o'  clubs 
in  my  pocket  o'  the  same  pattern  o'  cards.  It 
was  one  of  a  pack  that  dropped  in  the  water 
an'  I'd  put  it  in  my  pocket.  I  didn't  know 
why  at  the  time,  but  now  I  can  see  it  was  the 
will  o'  heaven.  I  reached  over  an'  took  the 
gun  just  for  an  excuse  to  drop  the  card  in 
Pete's  lap.  He  seen  it  an'  tumbled.' 


ON   HAND   JUST    ONCE       167 

"Well,  that's  all  there  was  to  it.  The 
stranger,  he  wouldn't  play  the  hand,  o' 
course,  but  Harris  havin'  four  sevens,  laid 
for  Pete,  who  just  naturally  stood  pat  an' 
flashed  four  tens  an'  an  ace  at  the  show  down. 
That  let  Harris  out,  an'  Pete  swatted  the 
stranger  till  he  had  to  borrow  twenty  to 
leave  town  with.  An'  the  credit  of  Arkansas 
City  was  saved." 


XIV 

IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL 

"  ONE  o'  the  commonest  failings  o'  poor 
fallen  humanity  is  a  lack  o'  self-control," 
said  old  man  Greenhut,  as  he  turned  back 
from  the  door  of  his  tavern,  out  of  which 
he  had  just  thrown  an  unfortunate  stranger, 
and  walked  around  to  his  place  behind  the 
bar  rubbing  and  slapping  his  hands  to 
gether,  as  if  to  brush  off  some  imaginary 
taint  that  might  be  supposed  to  have  attached 
to  the  stranger's  clothes. 

The  stranger,  who  didn't  seem  to  be  in  good 
health,  and  was  far  from  being  well  dressed, 
had  shuffled  in  a  few  moments  before  and 
walked  up  to  the  stove  with  a  deprecatory 
air,  saying  nothing  to  anybody  and  warming 
himself  in  an  apologetic  fashion  as  if  he 
realized  that  he  had  no  right  to  the  heat 
and  good  cheer  that  radiated  from  the  red- 

168 


IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL      169 

hot  sides  of  that  comfortable  piece  of  furni 
ture.  Nobody  said  anything  to  him,  and  he 
coughed  once  or  twice,  timidly,  before  he 
ventured  to  walk  over  to  the  bar  and  accost 
the  old  man.  "  Squire,"  he  said,  "  I  am  half- 
sick,  an'  I  need  a  glass  o'  liquor  powerful 
bad,  but  I  hain't  got  any  money.  Kin  you 
trust  me  for  a  drink?  I'll  pay  ye  for  it, 
honest.  I  hain't  never  beat  a  man  out  of  a 
cent  in  my  life,  an'  I'll  pay,  sure.  I 
wouldn't  ask  ye  for  it,  on'y  I'm  reely  sick." 
The  old  man  looked  at  him  steadily  while 
he  was  talking,  but  he  answered  never  a 
word.  Slowly  he  reached  under  the  bar 
and  the  stranger's  face  brightened  up.  He 
thought  the  old  man  was  reaching  for  a 
bottle.  After  hesitating  a  little  the  old  man 
came  out  from  behind  the  bar.  Seizing  the 
unresisting  stranger  by  the  collar  he  rushed 
him  violently  to  the  door,  and  half-threw  and 
half-kicked  him  out.  Then  breaking  the  si 
lence  for  the  first  time  since  the  stranger's  en 
trance,  he  delivered  himself  of  the  reflections 
recorded  above  as  he  walked  slowly  back  to 
his  place.  He  stood  there  for  some  minutes, 


170 STAND    PAT 

evidently  thinking  of  what  he  had  said,  and 
then,  business  being  slack  for  the  moment, 
he  relighted  his  cigar  and  came  out  again  to 
his  favourite  seat  by  the  window. 

"  Self-control,"  he  said,  presently,  "  is 
God's  best  gift  to  man.  The  fellow  that  kin 
always  control  himself  under  all  circum 
stances  is  the  one  that's  goin'  to  win  the 
pot.  Now  take  that  ar  shiftless  bum  that 
just  come  in  here  an'  asked  me  to  supply  his 
necessities  at  my  expense.  If  he'd  'a'  had  any 
self-control  he  never  would  have  allowed 
hisself  to  be  mastered  by  an  accursed  longin' 
for  liquor  without  the  price  of  it,  an'  if  I 
hadn't  'a'  had  my  self-control  right  along 
with  me,  like  as  not  I'd  'a'  let  him  have  it. 
I've  knowed  men  to  do  just  such  fool 
things.  An'  thar  he'd  'a'  been  saddled  with 
a  debt  that  he  wouldn't  never  'a'  paid,  an' 
I'd  'a'  been  just  that  much  out. 

"  I've  often  thought  that  the  Lord  must  'a' 
meant  the  game  o'  poker  as  a  instrument  o' 
savin'  grace  in  the  way  o'  cultivatin'  those 
virtues  'thout  which  a  man  hain't  fit  to  live, 
nor  yet  capable  o'  gettin'  on  in  the  world. 


IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL     171 

Now  poker'll  teach  a  man  self-control  bet- 
ter'n  almost  anything  else  I  know.  You 
never  seen  a  poker  player  what  knowed  the 
first  principles  o'  the  game,  givin'  way  to  no 
weaknesses. 

"  'Minds  me  of  a  game  I  see  played  once 
on  the  old  River  Belle,  comin'  down  the 
river  just  after  the  spring  floods  o'  '76. 
There  wa'n't  no  such  games  then  as  there 
used  to  be  before  the  war,  or  even  for  a 
few  years  after.  I  don't  know  what  the 
reason  is,  but  poker  don't  'pear  to  be  re 
spected,  now,  like  it  used  to  be.  'Pears 
like  the  risin'  generation  hain't  none  o'  the 
moral  stamina  that  folks  had  when  I  was 
younger.  Call  poker  immoral,  I've  heard 
tell,  just  as  if  'twasn't  the  greatest  educator 
an'  highest  moral  training  known  to  civi 
lization. 

"  There  was  a  good  bit  o'  money  up  in 
that  game,  for  there  was  four  o'  the  nerviest 
men  I  ever  knowed  in  it,  an'  every  one  of 
'em  was  out  for  blood.  Two  of  'em,  Jim 
Waters  an'  Abe  Simpson,  was  St.  Louis 
sports  that  always  travelled  together.  Jim 


172 STAND    PAT 

Blivins  was  another.  He  come  from  Mem 
phis,  but  he'd  kind  o'  run  hisself  out  o'  town 
an'  mostly  travelled  the  river.  'Twarn't  that 
he  was  crooked,  partic'lar.  He  played  as 
fair  as  most  of  'em  did,  an'  used  to  say  that 
he  never  stacked  the  cards  'thouten  he  had 
reason  to  think  that  somebody  else  in  the 
game  was  up  to  the  same  sort  o'  deviltry. 
But  the  truth  was  he  played  too  strong  a 
game  for  the  Memphis  crowd,  an'  it  got  so 
that  nobody  that  knowed  him  would  play 
with  him,  so  just  naturally  he  had  to  seek  for 
new  pastures  an'  strange  lambs.  The  fourth 
man  was  a  feller  I  never  seed  afore,  though 
I  come  to  know  him  well  enough  afterward. 
'Twas  George  Dunning,  a  chap  f'm  some- 
wheres  up  in  Iowa  that  had  took  to  the  river 
for  business  an'  somehow  had  struck  up  a 
friendship  with  Blivins.  They  was  playin' 
partners  at  the  time,  though  I  didn't  know 
it,  an7  just  naturally  they  wasn't  a-shoutin' 
it  out  from  the  housetops,  the  same  bein'  the 
upper  deck  in  case  of  steamboats.  Inciden 
tally  there  was  another  feller  in  the  game. 
He  was  a  cattle-dealer  from  Texas,  Dunni- 


IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL      173 

gan  by  name,  that  had  just  been  up  north 
sellin'  a  slew  o'  cattle,  an'  was  goin'  home 
with  a  wad  that  wouldn't  fit  comfortable 
in  his  inside  pocket. 

"  The  other  four  was  just  naturally  in- 
tendin'  to  get  hold  o'  that  wad,  but  there  was 
some  difference  of  opinion  amongst  'em 
about  it.  Waters  an'  Simpson  was  reckonin' 
on  takin'  it  back  to  St.  Louis  with  'em,  an' 
Blivins  an'  Dunning  was  thinkin'  o'  gettin' 
off  at  Memphis  an'  dividin'  up  there.  What 
Dunnigan  was  figurin'  on  I  don't  know,  but 
I  reckon  he  expected  to  draw  compound 
interest  on  his  money  durin'  the  time  he  was 
on  the  boat. 

"  By  the  time  we  got  below  Cairo  the 
game  was  goin'  on  under  a  full  head  o' 
steam.  The  professionals  was  all  well  fixed 
for  money  an'  there  wasn't  no  small  stakes 
played  for.  Nothin'  was  said  about  a  limit, 
neither,  nor  there  warn't  no  table  stakes 
rules.  It  was  just  a  case  o'  bettin'  anything 
you  damn  please,  an'  either  layin'  down  or 
makin'  a  bigger  bluff  every  time  the  other 
feller  peeped. 


174 STAND    PAT 

"  White  chips  was  a  dollar,  reds  was  five, 
an'  blues  was  fifty,  makin'  a  tol'able  stiff 
game  even  with  chips,  but  they  was  a  good 
many  hundred-dollar  bills  lyin'  on  the  table 
'fore  they'd  been  playin'  long,  an'  there  was 
a  feelin'  among  them  that  was  lookin'  on  that 
bigger  money  than  that  was  liable  to  be 
flashed  'most  any  time. 

"  It  was  reely  surprising  seein'  that  the 
game  was  that  sort,  an'  the  men  playin'  was 
so  much  in  earnest,  that  there  was  nothin' 
decisive-like  in  the  fust  day's  play.  You'd 
ha'  thought  that  somebody'd  gone  broke 
within  a  few  hours,  anyhow,  but  whether 
'twas  that  they  wasn't  in  no  hurry,  seein'  they 
had  several  days  ahead  of  'em,  or  whether 
'twas  that  they  was  too  much  for  one  an 
other,  I  don't  know.  Anyhow,  they  was 
a-playin'  from  about  four  o'clock  in  the  eve- 
nin'  till  after  midnight,  an'  nobody  was 
more'n  five  or  six  hundred  dollars  out  that 
fust  day. 

"  You  see  they  all  played  cautious.  I've 
often  noticed  that  when  men  are  playin'  in 
a  real  important  game,  with  plenty  o'  time  to 


IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL      175 

play  in,  they'll  play  a  much  more  cautious 
game  than  they  will  if  there's  only  a  few  dol 
lars,  or  a  few  hundred  in  sight.  Anyhow,  I 
didn't  see  no  bet  o'  more  than  five  hundred 
pushed  up  while  I  was  lookin'  on,  an'  that 
was  most  o'  the  time,  an'  I  didn't  see  that 
called  nor  raised  on'y  once.  Blivins  put  up 
five  hundred  once  on  three  queens,  an'  Dun 
nigan,  who  had  drawed  one  card,  raised  him 
five  hundred,  so  Blivins  just  naturally  laid 
down,  seein'  'twas  a  jack-pot  an'  Dunnigan 
hadn't  opened  when  he  had  a  chance,  but 
had  raised  once  before  the  draw,  showin'  he 
had  hopes  of  a  flush  or  a  straight. 

"  Well,  as  I  said,  they  played  till  about 
twelve  o'clock  an'  nobody  was  hurt  much. 
Then  Dunnigan  said  he  guessed  he'd  turn 
in,  an'  nobody  made  any  objections,  only 
they  all  seemed  to  understand  they  was  to 
go  on  with  the  game  the  next  day. 

"  I  must  say  that  there  Dunnigan  was  a 
foxy  player.  He  laid  down  his  cards  a  good 
many  times  that  second  day  when  an  ordi 
nary  man  would  have  played  'em,  provin' 
conclusive  that  he  knowed  the  game.  You 


176 STAND    PAT 

see  he  was  reely  better  off  in  the  game  than 
he  would  have  been  if  the  other  fellers 
hadn't  been  watchin'  one  another  the  way 
they  was.  Ef  either  two  of  the  four  had 
drawed  out  o'  the  game  I  don't  reckon  he'd 
ha'  lasted  more'n  perhaps  an  hour  or  so, 
though  as  I  said,  he  understood  the  game 
well  enough,  but  just  naturally  he  wasn't  on 
to  the  reely  subtle  refinements  o'  scientific 
manipulation,  an'  any  one  o'  them  four  could 
ha'  stacked  cards  on  him  without  him 
knowin'  it.  But  the  p'int  was  that  Waters 
an'  Simpson  was  watchin'  Blivins  an'  Dun 
ning  with  more  anxiety  than  a  hen  gives  to 
a  brood  o'  ducklin's,  and  Blivins  an'  Dun 
ning  was  returnin'  the  compliment  most 
amazin'  earnest  like.  Nary  a  one  of  'em 
dasted  to  deal  crooked,  an'  as  for  tryin'  to 
ring  in  marked  cards,  any  such  trick  as  that 
would  ha'  just  been  suicide. 

"  After  some  hours'  play  the  second  day, 
though,  all  hands  seemed  to  get  impatient. 
'Twa'n't  that  they  played  any  less  cautious, 
but  they  seemed  to  be  gettin'  on  to  one  an 
other's  play  better  an'  better  all  the  time 


IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL      177 

an'  feelin'  as  though  they  was  justified  in 
playin'  to  the  strength  o'  their  hands  more'n 
they  had.  I  noticed  they  begun  callin'  one 
another  once  in  awhile,  an'  a  call  had  been 
ruther  a  scarce  thing  before  that.  Dunnigan 
was  caught  bluffin'  most  outrageous  once,  on  a 
busted  flush,  but  nobody  even  smiled.  Bliv- 
ins  had  called  him  on  two  pairs,  an'  he  raked 
in  a  pot  of  near  a  thousand  dollars  just  as 
if  nothin'  had  happened. 

"  All  of  a  sudden  came  a  most  astonishin' 
deal.  I  reckon  it  was  honest  enough,  for, 
as  I  said,  they  was  a-watchin'  one  another 
like  cats,  an'  slick  as  they  all  was,  there 
warn't  one  of  'em  but  knowed  the  others 
would  catch  him  if  he  tried  to  deal  crooked. 
So  just  naturally  we  had  to  assume  it  was 
honest,  anyway,  although  Dunning  dealt  the 
cards,  an'  he  was  one  o'  the  best  manipulators 
I  ever  see. 

"  What  made  it  surprisin'  was  that  the 
cards  had  been  a-runnin'  most  almighty  slow 
up  to  that  time,  as  they  will  sometimes  for 
a  long  spell.  There  had  been  a  few  good 
hands,  o'  course,  but  there  hadn't  been  a  real 


178 STAND    PAT 

struggle  worth  talkin'  about  in  all  those 
hours  o'  play.  This  time,  though,  there  was 
struggle  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  sangui 
nary. 

"  Dunning  dealt,  as  I  said,  an'  Waters  had 
the  age.  He  got  four  hearts  with  the  ace 
and  king  at  the  head.  Blivins  was  next 
player  an'  he  caught  three  queens.  Dunni- 
gan  was  next  an'  he  found  kings  and  eights 
in  his  hand.  Simpson  was  next  an'  he  got 
four  spades  —  little  ones.  An'  Dunning 
dealt  himself  four  ten-spots,  pat. 

"  That  of  itself  was  a  tol'able  noteworthy 
deal,  but  the  draw  was  still  more  astonishin'. 
They'd  all  come  in  as  a  matter  o'  course,  an 
Waters  had  just  naturally  raised  it  a  blue 
chip.  That  give  Dunning  a  chance,  an'  he 
raised  it  a  hundred  dollars.  I  asked  him  a 
long  time  afterward  how  'twas  he  didn't  raise 
the  first  round,  an'  he  said  he  couldn't  ex 
actly  say,  on'y  he  had  a  sort  o'  hunch  that 
Waters  would  raise,  as  he  did,  an'  so  give 
him  all  the  better  show.  Everybody  stood 
this  raise  also,  and  then  they  called  for  cards. 

"  Waters    got    his    fifth    heart.       Blivins 


IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL     179 

caught  the  fourth  queen.  Dunnigan  made 
a  king  full,  an'  Simpson  got  nothin'.  Dun 
ning,  o'  course,  drew  a  dummy  to  his  four 
tens. 

"  If  ever  there  was  a  kettle  o'  fish  that  was. 
Blivins  bet  five  hundred  on  the  go  off,  an' 
Dunnigan  raised  him  five  hundred  as  a  simple 
act  o'  Christian  duty,  havin'  a  king  full 
against  one  two-card  and  three  one-card 
draws.  Simpson  threw  down  his  cards, 
havin'  no  chance  to  do  anything  else.  Dun 
ning  just  naturally  put  up  a  thousand  dollars 
more,  an'  Waters  was  between  the  devil  an' 
the  deep  blue  sea. 

"Just  naturally  he  says  to  himself  that 
Blivins  an'  Dunning  was  a-playin'  whipsaw 
an'  cal'latin'  to  scare  him  out  right  away. 
Dunnigan  was  the  man  he  was  after,  same 
as  the  others  was,  an'  he  reckoned  he  could 
beat  Dunnigan,  but  he  didn't  see  how  he  was 
goin'  to  stand  up  against  the  other  two. 
Talk  about  your  self-control.  There  was 
a  man  that  felt  certain  in  his  own  mind  that 
he  had  the  winnin'  hand  when  he  reely  had 
the  poorest  one  in  the  game.  He  was  low 


180 STAND   PAT 

man  for  fair,  but  you  couldn't  ha'  made  him 
think  so  just  then.  An'  'twas  sharper  than 
a  serpent's  tooth  to  see  the  other  two  fellers 
gettin'  away  with  Dunnigan's  money,  as  he 
could  see  they  was  likely  to  do. 

"What  did  he  do?  Why,  he  throwed 
down  his  cards  o'  course,  like  a  good  player 
as  he  was.  He  knowed  that,  although  the 
chances  was  that  he  had  the  best  hand,  he 
was  goin'  to  have  to  play  that  hand  so  high 
that  the  three  chances  against  him  made  it 
poor  play  to  back  it.  An'  mind  you,  'twarn't 
honest  play  he  was  lookin'  for,  but  a  whip- 
saw  game  by  two  men  with  plenty  of  money 


an'  more  nerve. 


"  Blivins  couldn't  do  no  less  than  raise  it 
another  thousand,  an'  it  was  up  to  Dunnigan 
to  make  the  play  of  his  life.  He  thought  he 
was  makin'  it  when  he  saw  both  raises  an' 
went  two  thousand  better.  I  don't  know  but 
what  I  might  ha'  done  the  same  thing,  but 
I've  played  poker  now  longer'n  I  had  then, 
an'  I've  seen  four  of  a  kind  out  a  good  many 
times.  'Pears  to  me  like  I'd  ha'  sensed  some- 
thin'  o'  the  sort  when  I  see  two  good  players 


IT  WAS  A  GREAT  DEAL      181 

bettin'   like  them   two   did,   an'  one  of  'em 
drawin'  two  cards  an'  the  other  only  one. 

"  Anyhow,  he  raised,  as  I  said,  an'  then 
o'  course  he  was  their  cold  meat.  All  they 
had  to  do  was  to  wait  on  one  another,  so 
Dunning  he  raised  an'  Blivins  chipped 
along.  Dunnigan  naturally  thought  he  had 
one  of  'em  beat,  an'  he  raised  again,  hoping 
to  scare  the  other  one  out.  He  made  his 
raise  five  thousand  this  time,  as  was  entirely 
proper,  seein'  he'd  made  up  his  mind  to  bet, 
but  he  was  considerable  surprised  when 
Dunning  fingered  his  roll  an'  called  for  a 
show  on  two  thousand,  which  was  all  he  had 
left,  an'  then  Blivins  makes  good  an'  goes 
him  five  thousand  more. 

"  That  was  a  little  more  than  poor  fallen 
human  nature  could  stand.  Just  naturally  he 
was  certain  that  Blivins  was  bluffing,  an' 
havin'  more  money  in  his  pocket  than  was 
reely  good  for  him,  he  makes  another  bluff 
hisself,  havin',  as  I  say,  parted  entirely  with 
his  self-control. 

''  Blivins  was  well  fixed,  too,  though,  an'  he 
comes  back  at  him  again,  so  Dunnigan  see  it 


182 STAND    PAT 

was  plump  foolishness  to  raise  any  more,  an' 
he  called.  I've  heerd  people  criticize  his  play, 
savin'  that  he'd  either  oughter  laid  down 
or  raised  again,  but  I'm  free  to  say  that  I 
don't  agree  with  'em.  A  king  full  was  good 
enough  to  call  on,  but  nothin'  short  of  a 
straight  flush  was  good  enough  to  raise  on 
against  Blivins's  play,  according  to  my  no 
tions. 

"  I've  heerd  people  say,  too,  that  they 
didn't  believe  Dunning  dealt  them  cards 
honest,  but  I  seen  the  expression  on  his  face 
when  Blivins  showed  down  four  queens 
against  his  four  tens  an'  raked  the  pot.  If 
he  warn't  genuinely  surprised  I  never  see 
any  one  that  was. 

"  That  broke  up  the  game,  for  the  cattle- 
dealer  didn't  want  to  go  plumb  broke  an' 
he  dropped  out,  so  there  wern't  no  use  in 
prolongin'  the  struggle.  But  if  ever  a  man 
had  cause  to  be  thankful  for  his  self-control, 
Jim  Waters  had  when  he  laid  down  his  ace 
flush." 


XV 

HE  SAT  IN  WITH  A  V 

^"1    HEAR   a   lot  o'    talk,"   said   old   man 
Greenhut,  as  he  wiped  up  the  bar  and  set 
his  bottles  and  glasses  in  order,  "  about  mod 
ern  progress  an'   the  elevatin'   influences  of 
eddication,  an'  sich,  but  I'll  be  everlastingly 
hornswaggled  if  it  don't  appear  to  me  that 
young  folks  nowadays  is  sure  a  degenerate 
lot.     I  don't  mean  boys,  for  there  can't  no 
body  tell  what  a  boy's  goin'  to  turn  out  to 
be.      I've   seen    reg'lar   milksops    that   went 
to    Sunday    school    an'    wore    neckties,    or, 
mebbe,  played  with  their  sisters  up  to  the 
time  they  was  seventeen  or  eighteen,  turn  all 
of  a  suddin  like,  an'  develop  into  rip-roaring 
good  citizens  that  could  take  their  own  part 
in  anything  that  came  along  from  a  poker 
party  to  a  political  meetin',  an'  was  a  right 

down  credit  to  the  community.     An'  similar 

100 


184 STAND    PAT 

I've  seen  right  lively  youngsters  o'  fifteen 
an'  sixteen,  that  was  full  o'  ginger  and  gave 
every  promise  o'  bein'  husky  citizens,  take  to 
foppish  ways  by  the  time  they  was  twenty, 
an'  go  around  smokin'  cigarettes.  No,  there 
ain't  no  tellin'  about  boys. 

'What  I  mean,"  continued  the  old  man, 
as  he  came  around  to  his  favourite  seat  by 
the  window,  "  is  the  no-'count  ways  that  the 
younger  men  of  to-day  seem  to  be  fallin' 
into.  Why,  talkin'  about  cigarettes,  there's 
grown  men  smokes  'em  now,  just  as  shame 
less  as  if  they  was  smokin'  honest  tobacco 
in  a  pipe.  An'  I  don't  mean  dagos  and 
Creoles  an'  sich,  but  full-grown  men.  An7 
what  with  temp'rance  societies,  an'  the 
women  tryin'  to  vote  an'  gettin'  the  men  to 
uphold  'em  in  it,  the  country  seems  to  be 
a-goin'  hell  to  breakfast  cross  lots  an'  side 
ways. 

"You  don't  see  none  o'  the  old  style  o' 
men  scarcely.  Forty  year  ago  men  was  dif 
ferent.  They  wasn't  afraid  to  drink  four 
fingers  to  once  o'  good  liquor,  an'  a  word 
meant  a  blow  an'  a  blow  meant  a  shot.  Con- 


HE    SAT    IN    WITH    A   V      185 

sequences  was  men  was  careful  what  they 
said,  an'  was  a  heap  sight  more  polite.  An' 
they  played  a  man's  game  o'  poker  in  them 
days.  Nowadays  they  tell  me  the  women 
is  playin'  it,  an'  it's  got  to  be  a  reg'lar  parlour 
amusement. 

"  Sam  Nichols  was  in  here  only  the  other 
night  an'  somebody  ast  him  to  take  a  hand 
in  a  little  game  that  was  goin'  on  in  the  back 
room,  an'  he  laughed  an'  says :  '  No,  I  ain't 
a-playin'  poker  anywheres  now  'ceptin'  at 
home.  My  wife,  she's  learned  the  game  an' 
some  o'  the  neighbours  comes  in  with  their 
wives,  an'  we  plays  ten-cent  limit.  You  have 
all  the  fun  o'  poker  an'  it  don't  cost  nothin' 
to  speak  of.'  An'  Sam,  he  used  to  be  one  o' 
the  stiffest  players  in  Arkansas  City. 

"  Just  naturally,  I  was  disgusted  for  fair. 
( Yes,  Sam,'  I  says,  '  you  can  have  all  the 
fun  o'  poker  if  you  leave  out  all  there  is  in 
the  game  that  makes  it  worth  playin'.  Cer 
tainly  you  can.  An'  you  could  have  all  the 
fun  of  eatin',  too,  if  you  was  to  take  all  your 
teeth  out  an'  gum  it  on  a  piece  o'  sponge. 
But  you  wouldn't  get  no  nourishment  out  of 


186 STAND    PAT 

it,  I  reckon.  An'  similar,  I'd  like  to  know 
what  sort  o'  nutriment  for  a  grown  man  there 
is  in  a  ten-cent  limit  game.  You  sure  make 
me  sick.'  " 

The  old  man  smoked  in  silence  for  a  few 
minutes  after  he  had  got  all  this  out  and 
then  began  to  chuckle.  "  It  wasn't  no  ten- 
cent  limit  game  they  was  playin'  in  here  the 
night  Park  Halloway  made  his  big  haul," 
he  said,  still  chuckling.  "  That  was  a  grown 
man's  game.  The  boys  had  been  a  little 
short  o'  money  for  three  or  four  weeks,  an' 
had  got  to  playin'  a  table  stakes  game  among 
themselves.  You  see  there  hadn't  been  no 
strangers  in  town  since  Three-finger  Pete 
an'  his  pal  come  in  an'  done  up  the  crowd 
with  some  marked  cards  they'd  had  sent 
here  ahead  of  'em. 

"  That  was  the  slickest  trick  that  was  ever 
played  on  this  community.  Didn't  you  never 
hear  of  it?  Why  that  was  told  all  up  an' 
down  the  river  for  years  an'  years.  It 
'peared  that  Three-fingered  Pete  was  special 
sore  on  Arkansas  City  for  doin'  him  up  bad 
the  first  time  he  come  here,  an'  he  swore 


HE    SAT    IN   WITH    A   V      187 

he'd  get  even.  So  he  waits  a  long  time  an' 
he  gets  in  with  a  feller  that  dealt  in  cards 
wholesale.  That  feller  was  afterward  shot, 
but  we  never  caught  Pete. 

"  Well,  Pete  managed  to  get  a  line  on 
everybody  in  Arkansas  City  that  bought  an' 
sold  cards.  There  was  only  three  stores 
where  they  kept  'em,  an'  this  feller  that  I'm 
tellin'  about  sold  to  all  three.  Well,  Pete, 
he  fixed  up  a  set  o'  marks  entirely  original 
an'  clever  enough  to  fool  the  devil  himself, 
an'  for  three  whole  years  he  marked  every 
pack  that  came  to  Arkansas  City,  so's  to  be 
sure  that  no  other  kind  o'  cards  would  be  in 
use  in  the  town  when  he  come.  He  was  a 
good  stayer,  Pete  was,  an'  he  played  a  long 
game  on  this. 

"  After  he  was  plumb  certain  that  there 
wasn't  no  old  stock  left  over  in  town,  he 
drifted  in  one  day,  an'  his  pal  followed  next 
day.  They  was  too  slick  to  come  together, 
or  to  let  on  that  they  knowed  each  other. 
Well,  just  naturally,  when  every  pack  o' 
cards  in  town  was  marked,  an'  only  two  men 
knowed  it,  and  both  o'  them  had  been  prac- 


188 STAND    PAT 

tisin'  on  readin'  them  marks  till  they  knowed 
the  backs  as  well  as  they  did  the  fronts,  them 
two  men  took  away  all  the  available  cash 
capital  there  was  in  Arkansas  City.  It  was 
a  rich  haul,  an'  everybody  'lowed  that  Pete 
was  entitled  to  great  credit  for  the  way  he 
worked  it,  though  just  naturally  we  was  all 
pretty  sore  when  we  found  it  out,  which  we 
didn't  till  Pete  an'  the  other  feller  had  got 
away  to  Mexico. 

"  Well,  as  I  was  sayin',  the  boys  was  a-get- 
tin'  on  the  best  way  they  could  after  that 
cyclone,  an'  playin'  mumbletypeg  amongst 
themselves  with  their  odd  change  till  some 
more  strangers  would  come  along  an'  give 
'em  a  chance  to  git  their  money  back.  An' 
it  had  been  goin'  on  that  way  for  some  weeks 
when  it  come  that  night  I  was  tellin'  of,  that 
Park  Halloway  made  his  big  play. 

"  It  was  a  dispensation  o'  Providence,  sure 
enough,  that  sent  three  cotton  factors  up  f'm 
New  Orleans  just  at  that  time.  They  was 
comin'  up  to  dicker  with  some  o'  the  planters 
for  the  next  crop,  there  havin'  been  some 
difficulty  in  the  market  that  had  got  a  lot 


HE    SAT    IN   WITH    A   V      189 

o'  planters  dissatisfied,  and  these  new  factors 
had  all  sorts  o'  money  with  'em.  They  was 
stoppin'  over  in  Arkansas  City  to  make  some 
inquiries,  an'  just  naturally  they  set  into  a 
little  game  while  they  was  a-waitin'  for  the 
next  boat. 

"Jim  Farley  an'  Dick  Hackett  had  been 
playin'  with  'em  for  about  a  hour  when  Hal- 
loway  come  in,  an'  naturally  they  had  ac 
cumulated  some  wealth,  so  that  the  game  was 
pretty  healthy.  It  was  table  stakes,  but  there 
wasn't  one  o'  the  five  that  didn't  have  over 
a  hundred  in  front  of  him,  so  when  Hallo- 
way  come  in  an'  ast  if  he  c'd  have  a  hand 
we  was  some  surprised.  He'd  been  as  near 
broke  as  anybody  in  town  since  Pete's  raid, 
an'  it  didn't  seem  likely  that  he  had  money 
enough  to  set  in  with. 

"  So  when  he  ast  to  set  in,  Hackett  looked 
up  a  little  doubtful  an'  says,  '  Why,  cert'nly, 
Park,  but  we're  playin'  table  stakes,'  an'  he 
looked  around  at  the  money  then  in  sight 
as  much  as  to  say,  '  That  sort  o'  lets  you  out, 
don't  it?' 

"  But    Halloway,    he    grinned    an'    says, 


190 STAND    PAT 

'  That's  the  on'y  game  where  I  could  get 
a  show  for  my  money,  I  reckon,'  an'  he  sets 
down  an'  flashes  a  five-dollar  bill  as  sassy 
as  you  please.  '  I'll  make  it  as  quick  play 
as  I  can,'  he  says,  still  grinnin',  an'  they  all 
laughed  an'  pushed  him  over  five  white 
chips. 

"  Well,  it  was  his  age  an'  he  antes  a  white 
chip  as  the  others  had  been  doin'  an'  let  his 
cards  lay  face  down  till  they'd  all  come  in. 
Then,  still  without  lookin'  at  his  cards,  he 
made  his  ante  good  an'  shoved  up  the  other 
three.  One  o'  the  factors  sat  next  an'  he  saw. 
Then  Hackett  raised  it  five  on  the  side,  Hal- 
loway  havin',  o'  course,  a  show  for  his 
money.  The  other  two  factors,  Davis  and 
Allen  their  names  was,  they  was  lookin'  for 
trouble,  so  they  come  in,  an'  Farley,  settin' 
next,  h'isted  it  ten  dollars. 

"  Course,  Halloway  hadn't  nothin'  to  say, 
an'  Smith,  the  first  factor,  he  laid  down.  So 
did  Hackett  an'  Davis,  but  Allen  come  back 
with  ten  more,  an'  Farley  called  it.  Then 
Davis  showed  an  ace  high  straight  an'  Farley 
a  small  flush,  Halloway  waited  till  they  was 


HE    SAT    IN    WITH    A   V      191 

through,  an'  then  he  turned  his  cards  over. 
They  was  a  ten  full  on  sixes. 

"  That  sort  o'  gave  him  a  footin'  in  the 
game,  for  he  had,  o'  course,  thirty  dollars 
instead  o'  five,  an'  while  Hackett  was  ten 
dollars  out,  Farley  had  won  thirty  dollars. 
The  strangers  was  flush,  anyhow,  an'  they 
wasn't  a  mite  disturbed. 

"  It  was  Halloway's  deal  next,  an'  when 
it  come  his  turn  to  see  the  ante  he  threw 
his  cards  away  without  lookin'  at  'em.  *  I'll 
bet  the  next  hand,'  he  says,  '  same  as  I  did 
the  last,  an'  I'd  ruther  not  do  it  on  my  own 
deal.'  So  they  played  that  hand  without 
him,  an'  Hackett  won  it,  with  about  forty 
dollars  in  the  pot. 

"  Sure  enough,  in  the  next  deal,  Halloway 
shoved  his  thirty  dollars  in  the  pot  without 
looking  at  his  hand.  Just  naturally  nobody 
thought  he'd  win  again,  so  they  bet  as  if  he 
wasn't  in  the  game.  Smith  an'  Farley  laid 
down,  but  Hackett  an'  Davis  raised  back 
an'  forth  till  Hackett  called  for  a  show  for 
his  money.  Allen  stood  one  raise,  but  laid 
down  on  the  second. 


192 STAND    PAT 

"  Then  came  another  surprise.  Davis  had 
three  queens,  Hackett  had  three  kings,  an' 
Halloway  had  three  aces.  He  won  ninety 
dollars  on  that  deal,  an'  Hackett  won  some 
thing  like  a  hundred  an'  fifty. 

"  When  the  cards  was  dealt  next  time  there 
was  a  jack-pot,  for  they  was  a-playin'  with 
a  buck  an'  Hackett  had  it.  They  made  it 
a  five-dollar  jack,  an'  Davis  an'  Allen  an' 
Farley  passed.  That  brung  it  up  to  Halloway 
an'  he  opened  it  for  twenty-five  dollars. 
Smith  an'  Hackett  come  in,  Davis  raised  it 
fifty,  Allen  an'  Farley  come  in,  an'  Halloway 
shoved  up  all  he  had  which  was  forty  dol 
lars  more.  An'  once  more  they  all  come  in. 
I  don't  remember  that  I  ever  see  anything 
just  like  it  afore,  but  each  man  of  the  six 
drawed  one  card  an'  not  one  of  'em  bettered 
his  hand.  Davis  was  raisin'  on  a  four 
straight  flush,  king  high,  an',  of  course, 
wanted  to  play  it  as  hard  as  he  could,  but 
the  others  was  drawin'  to  four  straights  an' 
four  flushes  exceptin'  Halloway,  an'  he  had 
aces  up. 

"  Then  he  was  in  the  game  with  all  four 


HE    SAT    IN   WITH   A   V      193 

feet,  for  he'd  won  more'n  seven  hundred  dol 
lars  offn  his  V-spot  in  three  deals.  We  was 
all  struck,  but  Park  on'y  grinned  an'  says, 
quiet  like,  *  'Pears  as  though  I'd  struck  my 
gait,  don't  it?  '  which  it  sure  did. 

"  That  warn't  the  end  of  it,  though,  for 
on  the  next  deal,  Allen  having  the  age,  an' 
Farley  comin'  in,  Halloway  simply  made 
good  with  his  little  two  dollars,  waitin',  as 
it  appeared,  for  somebody  else  to  raise.  It 
was  good  play,  too,  for  when  it  come  Smith's 
turn  he  raised  it  ten  dollars.  The  others  all 
come  in,  an'  Halloway  raised  it  twenty-five. 
This  kind  o'  staggered  'em,  an'  Hackett  an' 
Farley,  knowin'  Halloway  as  well  as  they 
did,  laid  down,  but  the  strangers  all  thought 
he  was  bluffin'  on  the  stren'th  of  his  run 
o'  luck,  an'  all  three  of  'em  made  good. 
Allen  drew  three  cards  to  a  pair  of  aces. 
Halloway  drew  one,  holdin'  a  kicker  to 
three  sevens,  Smith  drew  two  to  three  jacks, 
an'  Davis,  who  was  dealing,  drew  one  to  a 
four  flush. 

"  Allen  got  his  third  ace,  Halloway  got 
his  fourth  seven,  Smith  didn't  better,  an' 


194 STAND    PAT 

Davis  filled  his  flush,  so  if  ever  the  Lord 
was  good  to  a  man,  He  cert'nly  was  good  to 
Halloway.  It  was  his  first  bet,  Farley  havin' 
passed  out,  an'  he  put  up  fifty  dollars.  Smith 
came  in,  figgerin'  that  some  one  else'd  raise, 
which  Davis  did  for  fifty  dollars  more. 
Allen  studied  on  his  three  aces  for  awhile 
an'  then  come  in.  I  don't  know  what  sort 
of  poker  he  thought  he  was  playin',  but  I 
reckon  he  thought  Halloway  an'  Davis  was 
both  bluffin'.  Just  naturally  Halloway  come 
back  with  a  hundred  more,  an'  Smith  an' 
Allen  laid  down,  Davis  callin'.  That  made 
seven  hundred  and  ten  dollars  in  the  pot,  of 
which  four  hundred  and  seventy-three  dol 
lars  went  to  his  profit  an'  loss  account, 
makin'  his  winnin's  up  to  this  time  one  thou 
sand  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  dollars, 
which  was  doin'  well  for  a  five-dollar  bill 
in  four  pots. 

"  By  this  time  the  others  was  all  proper 
astonished,  an'  Davis  showed  a  little  temper. 
He'd  been  hit  pretty  hard  three  times  an' 
was  aggravated,  but  Halloway  never  said 
nothin'.  On'y  just  set  there  an'  grinned, 


HE    SAT    IN   WITH   A   V      195 

an'  once  more  the  lightnin'  struck  in  the 
same  place.  It  was  a  short  game  an'  a  top- 
able  warm  one. 

"  The  next  deal  was  Davis's,  an'  as  Hal- 
loway  had  the  first  say  he  come  in  without 
lookin'  at  his  cards.  The  next  two  men  come 
in,  an'  Davis  raised  it  fifty.  That  showed, 
o'  course,  that  he  was  lookin'  for  fight,  for 
there  wa'n't  but  seven  dollars  in  the  pot  up 
to  then,  an'  nobody  had  showed  any  stren'th. 
Allen  an'  Farley  looked  over  their  cards 
pretty  careful,  an'  findin'  no  encouragement 
they  dropped. 

"  Then  Halloway  picked  up  his  cards  an' 
skint  'em  down  slow.  The  luck  was  still 
with  him,  for  he  had  four  treys.  He  was  a 
cool  player,  though,  an'  pretended  to  be 
studyin'  the  cards,  while  he  was  really 
studyin'  how  to  play  Davis  good  and  hard 
again.  He  knowed  it  was  no  good  to  think 
about  the  others,  for  they  wouldn't  be  likely 
to  stand  Davis's  raise,  let  alone  his,  if  he 
should  raise  back.  So  he  thought  awhile 
an'  then  raised  it  a  hundred. 

"  That  made  Davis  madder'n  ever.     <  You 


196 STAND    PAT 

can't  bluff  me  that  way,'  he  says,  very 
nasty,  an'  as  the  other  two  laid  down,  he 
come  back  with  two  hundred  more.  Then, 
o'  course,  Halloway  had  him.  He  looked 
more  serious  than  ever  for  awhile,  and  finally 
he  says,  '  Well,  I  reckon  I'll  draw  one  card,' 
shovin'  up  his  two  hundred  as  he  spoke. 

"  He  let  the  card  lay  as  it  was  dealt  to 
him,  an'  Davis,  havin'  a  pat  flush,  o'  course, 
drew  none.  Halloway  looked  at  him  for  a 
minute,  as  if  tryin'  to  study  out  whether  he 
was  bluffin'  or  not,  an'  finally  says:  'Well, 
I'll  bet  you  five  hundred,  anyway.' 

" i  An'  I'll  raise  you  a  thousand,'  said 
Davis,  with  some  sort  o'  French  swearin' 
that  I  reckon  he  must  ha'  brought  f'm  New 
Orleans,  f'r  I  never  heerd  anything  like  it 
around  here. 

"Halloway  grinned  again,  an'  he  says: 
*  I'm  sorry  I  can't  see  your  thousand,  but 
I'll  call  for  a  show  for  what  I  have,  an'  I 
reckon  my  cards  is  good.'  An'  he  showed 
down  his  four  treys. 

"  Well,  that  broke  up  the  game.  Davis 
was  too  mad  to  play  any  more,  an'  his  pals 


HE    SAT    IN    WITH    A   V      197 

see  that  it  was  foolish  for  them  to  stack  up 
against  any  such  luck  as  Halloway  was  settin' 
in.  But  it  was  a  monstrous  good  game  while 
it  lasted.  I  never  seen  five  dollars  grow  to 
two  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-six 
quite  so  quick,  afore  nor  since." 


XVI 

HIS  QUEER  SYSTEM 

"  'TAIN'T  a  matter  of  record,"  said  old 
man  Greenhut,  with  a  reminiscent  look  in 
his  eye,  "  that  any  stranger  has  ever  come 
to  Arkansas  City  with  any  notion  o'  doin'  up 
the  town  what  got  away  with  the  proposition 
an'  any  consid'able  remnant  o'  the  wad  he 
had  with  him  when  he  arrove.  The  citizens 
o'  this  town  is  mostly  capable  men,  what  is 
well  qualified  to  drink  red  liquor  straight 
an'  set  into  'most  any  sort  of  a  game  with 
out  drawin'  weepons,  'less  there's  some  prov 
ocations,  an'  when  it  comes  to  draw-poker 
it's  universally  acknowledged  up  an'  down 
the  river  that  there  ain't  no  superior  game 
played  anywhere.  The  galoot  that  comes 
here  with  a  notion  in  his  nut  o'  makin'  a 
everlastin'  fortune  out  o'  such  hands  as  a 
merciful  Providence  may  allow  him  to  hold 

198 


HIS    QUEER    SYSTEM         199 

in  two  or  three  nights'  play  is  gen'ly  consid 
ered  to  be  runnin'  in  great  luck  if  he  gets 
out  o'  town  without  havin'  a  subscription 
took  up  for  his  benefit  about  the  time  the 
next  boat  ties  up. 

"  There  has  been  a  good  many  times,  true 
enough,  when  things  looked  doubtful.  Play 
ers  has  come  that  had  new  wrinkles  in  the 
way  o'  holdin'  out,  or  stackin'  the  cards,  or 
some  new  system  o'  play  that  puzzled  the 
boys  for  awhile.  An'  there's  been  some  come 
that  sure  knowed  the  game  an'  played  it 
almighty  skilful.  But  none  of  'em,  as  I  said, 
ever  reely  got  away  with  the  proposition. 

"  There  was  one  feller,  though,  that 
showed  up  here  about  six  years  ago,  that 
come  monstrous  near  breakin'  the  record. 
That  is  to  say,  if  he'd  have  understood  the 
first  principles  o'  poker  he'd  ha'  busted  the 
town  wide  open,  an'  the  mortifyin'  thing 
about  it  was  'twas  poker  he  was  playin'. 
That  is,  'twas  called  poker,  an'  he  sure  did 
win,  but  the  way  he  played  it  was  one  o'  the 
seven  wonders  o'  the  world.  We  talked 
about  it  quite  some,  after  he  left,  an'  the 


200 STAND    PAT 

unanimous  verdict  was  that  if  he  ha'  knowed 
what  he  was  doin'  an'  how  to  do  it,  he'd 
ha'  just  everlastin'ly  skint  the  entire  crowd 
out  o'  what  money  there  was,  instead  o' 
comin'  out  consid'able  ahead,  an'  him  not 
knowin'  just  how  he  done  it  or  what  he'd 
done.  It  sure  were  bewilderin',  an'  well 
cal'lated  to  make  a  man  lose  his  faith  in 
Providence,  'thout  he  was  one  that  stuck  to 
his  religion  spite  of  anything. 

"  The  puzzlin'  thing  about  it  were  that 
the  feller  seemed  to  be  playin'  poker  all  the 
time,  an'  the  rest  o'  the  party  was  playin' 
it  for  all  they  knew,  but  he  were  either 
playin'  on  a  system  that  was  entirely  unbe 
knownst  to  everybody  in  this  part  o'  the 
world,  or  else  he  were  that  outrageous  igno 
rant  o'  first  principles  as  would  disgrace  a 
half-grown  boy.  An'  yet  he  won!  Some 
of  'em  was  inclined  to  think  at  first  that  it 
were  a  new  system,  an'  there  was  a  good  deal 
o'  speculation  on  how  it  would  work,  played 
constant,  but  nobody  had  the  nerve  to  try 
it,  seein'  it  were  plumb  contrary  to  all  sci 
ence  as  poker  is  understood,  an'  they  couldn't 


HIS    QUEER    SYSTEM         201 

get  up  that  child-like  confidence  in  heaven's 
mercy  that  would  lead  'em  to  look  for  over- 
whelmin'  luck  in  the  matter  o'  cards  at  the 
critical  moments  o'  the  game. 

"  The  way  of  it  was  this.  He  just  landed 
from  the  boat  one  day  an'  walked  up  the 
levee  a  bit,  lookin'  round,  an'  sayin'  nothin' 
to  nobody.  There  didn't  seem  to  be  no  rea 
son  for  anybody  to  pay  attention  to  him,  an' 
consequent  nobody  did,  for  he  wa'n't  a  man 
that  looked  like  a  sport,  nor  yet  a  business 
man.  Just  'peared  to  have  got  out  f'm  some- 
wheres  an'  didn't  know  his  way  back.  After 
he  looked  round  a  spell,  he  sort  o'  drifted 
in  to  the  hotel  an'  wrote  his  name,  absent- 
minded  like,  on  the  register,  an'  said  '  Yes ' 
when  the  proprietor  ast  him  if  he  wanted  a 
room.  Then  he  just  sat  round  for  a  day  or 
two,  sayin'  nothin'  to  nobody  all  the  time. 
Didn't  appear  to  have  ambition  enough  to 
eat  his  meals,  for  he'd  wait  till  everybody 
else  was  most  through  'fore  he'd  go  into  the 
dinin'-room.  An'  even  when  he  took  a  drink, 
which  wa'n't  often,  he  did  it  all  alone  with 
out  seemin'  to  take  no  interest  in  it. 


202  STAND    PAT 


u  v 


'Long  about  the  third  day  he  began 
takin'  short  walks,  an'  bimeby  he  got  as  far 
as  to  come  in  here  an'  look  'round.  Seein' 
the  bar,  he  called  for  some  red  liquor  an' 
drank  it,  an'  then  seein'  a  chair  he  sot  down. 
There  hadn't  been  much  doin'  for  a  week 
or  two,  an'  I  says  to  Jake  Winterbottom  that 
it  mought  be  a  good  idea  to  start  a  game  o' 
poker.  (  This  here  stranger,'  I  says,  '  don't 
look  as  if  he  knowed  one  card  from  another, 
but  'tain't  likely  he's  quite  as  simple  as  he 
looks,  an'  mebbe,'  I  says,  *  you  might  get  him 
into  the  game.  Don't  make  it  too  stiff  right 
away,'  I  says,  *  an'  who  knows  but  you  might 
get  a  small  stake  out  of  him?  'Tain't  very 
promisin','  I  says,  i  but  some  men  is  like 
crooked  cattle.  There's  more  meat  on  'em 
than  they  looks.' 

"Well,  Jake,  he  didn't  think  there  was 
nothin'  doin'.  He  looked  the  stranger  over 
an'  sort  o'  turned  up  his  nose,  but  things  was 
quiet,  an'  finally  he  says:  'I  don't  reckon 
he's  got  fifty  dollars  in  the  world,  an'  if  we 
win  that  we'll  only  have  to  chip  in  an'  send 
him  away.  There  ain't  the  makings  of  a 


HIS    QUEER    SYSTEM         203 

citizen  into  him,  no  way  I  can  figure  it,  an' 
we  don't  want  him  settin'  around  for  ever. 
But  we  might  take  a  shy  at  it,  just  to  pass 
the  time.' 

"  So  him  an'  Sam  Blaisdell  an'  George 
Bascom  kind  o'  got  together  an'  played  a 
few  hands,  thinkin'  the  stranger  might  show 
some  interest  an'  propose  to  join  the  game, 
but  he  never  stirred.  Just  sot  still  an' 
chawed  his  tobacco,  like  he  didn't  give  a 
cuss  for  nothin'.  So  finally  Bascom  he  spoke 
up  an'  says :  '  This  is  pretty  slow  playin' 
three-handed.  We'd  oughter  have  somebody 
else  in  the  game,'  an'  they  waited  a  minute 
to  see  if  that  would  catch  him,  but  he  never 
even  looked  round.  So  Winterbottom  says: 
'  Wouldn't  you  like  to  play?  '  an'  the  stranger 
he  says:  *  Yes,'  just  the  same  absent-minded- 
like  way  he'd  spoke  to  the  hotel  proprietor, 
an'  he  went  over  an'  sot  in.  I  sold  him  ten 
dollars'  o'  chips,  an'  they  dealt  him  cards. 
It  were  a  table  stakes  game,  an'  each  man 
had  put  up  ten. 

"  The  stranger,  he  talked  like  a  Yankee 
an'  looked  like  a  Frenchman,  but  his  name 


204 STAND   PAT  

on  the  hotel  register  was  Dennis  McCarthy, 
an'  for  all  the  interest  he  showed  in  the  cards 
after  he  got  'em  he  might  have  been  a 
Chinee.  He  just  put  up  when  it  come  his 
turn,  an'  drawed  cards  every  time,  but  he 
never  made  a  bet  till  his  ten  was  all  gone, 
an'  then  he  bought  ten  more  as  calm  an'  col 
lected  as  a  knot-hole  in  a  board  fence. 

'Well,  we  played  along,  if  you  can  call 
it  playing  poker,  just  like  that  until  his  third 
ten-spot  was  gone,  an'  he  bought  ten  more 
worth  o'  chips.  Then  he  caught  a  hand  that 
seemed  to  interest  him  some,  for  he  studied 
it  a  long  time  after  Bascom  had  bet  ten  on 
his  cards  before  he  said  anything.  Then  he 
said,  '  I  call,'  an'  shoved  a  ten-dollar  bill  into 
the  pot.  They  showed  down  an'  the  stranger 
had  a  pair  o'  queens.  Bascom,  he  had  three 
sevens,  so  he  raked  the  pot,  o'  course,  for 
Winterbottom  an'  Blaisdell  had  passed  out. 

"Well,  that  there  McCarthy,  if  his  name 
was  McCarthy,  just  sat  there  and  called 
every  bet  that  was  made  after  that  for  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour.  I  never  see  such  a  thing 
before  nor  since.  'Feared  like  he'd  on'y 


HIS    QUEER    SYSTEM         205 

just  found  out  that  he  could  call,  an'  he'd 
been  playin'  along  afore  that  on  the  idee 
that  all  the  other  feller  had  to  do  to  win  the 
pot  was  to  make  a  bet,  an'  as  if  he'd  got  in 
his  head  that  callin'  was  all  he  was  'lowed 
to  do  under  the  rules.  Whatever  his  fool 
notion  was,  I  don't  p'tend  to  say,  but  that's 
just  what  he  did.  Just  called  every  time  it 
come  to  him. 

"  Just  naturally  that  looked  easy,  an'  I  will 
say  for  the  boys  that  they  didn't  try  to  play 
it  low  down  on  him  for  a  good  while.  All 
they  did  was  to  wait  for  a  pretty  strong  hand 
an'  then  bet  it  for  what  it  was  worth  an'  wait 
for  a  call.  As  there  was  three  o'  them  to 
one  o'  him,  they  naturally  outheld  him  as  a 
rule,  but  somehow  or  other  he  managed  to 
scoop  a  pot  just  about  often  enough  to  keep 
him  even.  He'd  bought  twenty-five  dollars 
after  he  lost  his  first  fifty,  so  there  was  over 
a  hundred  on  the  table.  The  boys  wasn't 
pushin'  him  very  hard,  so  they  only  bet  fives 
an'  tens,  an'  once  in  awhile  he'd  show  down 
the  best  hand  an'  scoop  a  pot.  An'  bimeby 
we  was  all  surprised  to  see  he  was  gettin' 


206 STAND    PAT 

ahead.  Still,  'twa'n't  no  game  to  speak 
about.  They'd  all  got  the  idee't  he  hadn't 
got  much  of  a  wad,  an'  they  was  playin'  more 
for  the  fun  o'  the  thing  than  to  do  him  up. 

"  Pretty  soon  Blaisdell  he  caught  a  four- 
flush  in  a  jack-pot  an'  the  Stranger  he  opened 
it.  Blaisdell  stayed  an'  the  others  dropped 
out.  They  each  drawed  one  card  an'  the 
stranger  he  bet  ten.  Blaisdell  looked  at  his 
draw  an'  found  he'd  filled  a  ace  flush,  so  he 
raised  it  for  his  pile,  which  was  thirty  dol 
lars,  an'  the  stranger  called.  He  showed 
down  a  full  house  an'  Blaisdell  had  to  go 
diggin'. 

"  Next  hand  Bascom  opened  the  jack  on 
a  pat  straight,  an'  the  stranger  he  come  in 
an'  drawed  one  card.  The  others  stayed  out 
an'  Bascom  bet  his  pile,  which  was  twenty 
odd,  an'  the  stranger  he  called  an'  showed 
down  a  flush,  so  Bascom  was  obliged  to  dig. 

"  Then  'twas  Winterbottom's  turn,  as  it 
happened,  an'  he  opened  it  on  threes.  They 
was  playin'  a  jack  again  on  account  o'  the 
hands  showed,  an'  I'm  blamed  if  the  same 
thing  didn't  happen.  The  stranger  he  come 


HIS    QUEER    SYSTEM         207 

in  an'  drawed  two  cards.  Winterbottom 
bet  his  pile,  bavin'  three  queens.  The  other 
two  dropped  out  an'  the  stranger  he  called 
an'  showed  three  kings. 

"  It  looked  like  a  most  amazin'  run  o' 
luck,  but  the  stranger  never  turned  a  hair. 
He  did  call  for  the  drinks  all  round,  as  a 
sort  o'  reco'nition,  but  he  sot  as  calm  as  ever, 
waitin'  for  his  cards,  an'  lookin'  as  if  he 
didn't  know  what  to  do  with  'em  when  they 
come.  The  others  had  bought  fifty  apiece 
when  they  come  back,  so  there  was  money 
enough  on  the  table  to  make  it  worth  while, 
an'  the  play  got  stronger.  First,  Winter- 
bottom  he  bet  twenty  on  two  pairs  an'  the 
stranger  called  on  one  pair.  Then  Bascom 
he  bet  ten  on  a  pair  o'  queens  an'  the  stranger 
called  on  ace  high.  Then  Blaisdell  bet 
twenty-five  on  three  jacks,  Bascom  saw  it  on 
aces  up,  Winterbottom  stayed  out,  havin' 
nothin',  an'  the  stranger  called  on  a  nine- 
high  straight.  No  matter  what  he  held  he 
wouldn't  raise. 

"  Blaisdell  kind  o'  got  huffy  this  time,  an' 
seein'  the  stranger  was  still  pretty  well  to 


208 STAND    PAT 

the  good,  he  began  cussin'  a  little  an'  pro 
posed  to  take  off  the  limit.  The  others  said 
they  was  willin',  an'  they  ast  McCarthy  if 
he  was,  an'  he  said  '  Yes.'  Blamed  if  it 
didn't  'pear  like  '  yes '  was  'most  the  only 
word  he  knowed  in  the  language. 

"  WelVthe  bets  was  heavier  after  that,  an' 
the  stranger  lost  what  he  had  in  front  of 
him  in  the  next  three  pots,  callin'  on  the 
most  ridiculousest  hands  you  ever  see,  but 
he  stayed  right  along  in  for  the  next  deal, 
so  they  knowed  he  must  have  more  money 
in  his  clothes.  It  were  his  first  say,  Bascom 
havin'  the  age,  an'  he  dug  out  two  silver  dol 
lars  an'  come  in,  the  ante  bein'  a  dollar.  The 
others  stayed,  an'  McCarthy  drawed  three 
cards.  When  it  come  to  the  bettin',  he  bet 
a  dollar,  an'  Winterbottom  put  up  fifty, 
havin'  filled  a  flush.  Blaisdell  dropped  out 
an'  Bascom  raised  it  fifty.  McCarthy  never 
said  a  word,  but  he  pulled  out  his  wallet 
an'  fished  up  a  hundred-dollar  bill.  Win 
terbottom  raised  it  fifty  an'  Bascom  raised 
it  fifty  more,  an'  the  stranger  laid  down  an 
other  hundred, 


HIS    QUEER    SYSTEM         209 

"  It  looked  like  his  finish  there,  for  sure, 
for  o'  course  nobody  thought  he  had  much 
of  a  hand,  an'  the  boys  thought  all  they  had 
to  do  was  to  keep  raisin'.  They  knowed  he'd 
keep  callin',  for  he  hadn't  done  nothin'  else 
for  nigh  an  hour,  an'  all  they  had  to  do  was 
to  keep  up  the  crisscross  an'  whipsaw  him 
out  of  his  pile.  'Twa'n't  certain  whether 
Bascom  or  Winterbottom  would  win,  but 
one  of  'em  was  sure  to,  an'  the  money  would 
stay  right  here. 

"  Well,  they  kep'  it  up  for  five  minutes,  I 
reckon,  till  Bascom  come  to  the  end  of  his 
wad.  He  on'y  had  six  or  seven  hundred  in 
his  clothes  an'  Winterbottom  wasn't  much 
stronger.  It  didn't  look  worth  while  for 
Bascom  to  send  for  more  money,  for  the 
stranger's  pocketbook  was  empty  an'  he'd 
fished  out  his  last  hundred  from  one  of  his 
pockets,  so  Bascom  just  made  good  when 
Winterbottom  raised,  an'  the  stranger  got  his 
chance  to  call,  nobody  supposin'  that  he  had 
more'n  perhaps  three  of  a  kind,  an'  likely 
not  that,  he  havin'  called  on  every  hand  he 
held  whether  'twas  good  for  anything  or  not. 


210 STAND    PAT 

"  It  were  a  fatal  mistake,  an'  Bascom  seen 
it  as  soon  as  he'd  done  it,  for  the  stranger 
dug  again  an'  flashed  up  a  thousand-dollar 
bill.  'Stead  o'  raisin'  Winterbottom,  as  any 
other  player  on  earth  would  ha'  done,  he  just 
done  his  fool  act  over  again  an'  called. 
Then  he  showed  down  four  deuces  an7 
scooped  in  the  pot  as  cool  as  if  'twas  eight 
dollars  instead  of  a  little  over  two  thousand. 

"  Bascom  sort  o'  gasped,  for  he  seen  what 
a  mistake  he'd  made,  but  Winterbottom,  he 
realized  that  somethin'  had  to  be  did  quick, 
an'  he  reached  out  with  one  hand  for  the 
money.  '  You  never  got  them  deuces  hon 
est,'  he  says,  pullin'  his  gun,  o'  course,  as  he 
spoke.  He  knowed  it  meant  fight,  but  he 
wasn't  lookin'  no  more  than  any  of  us  for 
the  kind  of  a  fight  that  came. 

"  McCarthy,  he  was  quicker  than  chain- 
lightnin',  an'  reachin'  over  with  one  hand 
he  grabbed  Winterbottom's  gun  while  he  put 
the  money  in  his  pocket  with  the  other. 
Then,  with  a  queer  sort  o'  a  twist,  he 
wrenched  the  gun  out  o'  Winterbottom's 
hand  and  threw  it  plumb  through  the  win- 


"WITH  ONE  HAND  HE  GRABBED  WINTERBOTTOM'S  GUN 
WHILE  HE  PUT  THE  MONEY  IN  HIS  POCKET  WITH 
THE  OTHER.'" 


HIS    QUEER    SYSTEM         211 

dow.  We  was  all  standin'  ready  to  see  that 
Winterbottom  had  fair  play,  not  considerin' 
it  etiquette  to  interfere  unless  he  should  get 
the  worst  of  it,  but,  Lord  bless  you,  he  hadn't 
no  show  at  all.  The  stranger  he  just  rose 
out  of  his  chair  an'  give  a  leap  like  a  buckin' 
bronco  clean  over  the  table.  He  come  down 
with  both  heels  on  Winterbottom's  chest,  an' 
Winterbottom  was  out  of  it.  Blaisdell  an' 
Bascom  both  drawed  on  the  instant,  but 
'twa'n't  no  use.  That  stranger  was  all  over 
the  room  at  once,  swattin'  Bascom  behind 
the  ear  with  his  fist  an'  kickin'  Blaisdell 
under  the  chin  at  the  same  time.  I  didn't 
think  it  was  worth  while  to  take  a  hand 
myself,  seein'  how  things  was  goin',  an'  bein' 
some  in  years,  so  I  stepped  behind  the  bar 
an'  waited. 

"  Well,  them  three  men  tried  for  a  minit 
or  so  to  get  up,  but  they  couldn't.  McCarthy 
was  on  top  o'  the  whole  of  'em  as  fast  as 
they  moved,  an'  he  had  'em  all  whipped  in 
less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it.  I  heerd 
afterward  that  he'd  lived  in  Paris  some,  an' 
had  learned  some  outrageous  foreign  way  o' 


212 STAND    PAT 

boxin'  with  his  feet  that  no  Christian  c'd 
ever  stand  up  against.  They  all  give  in  after 
a  little,  an'  I  didn't  blame  'em,  havin'  seen 
for  myself  what  the  stranger  c'd  do. 

"Well,  that  was  the  end  of  it.  The 
stranger  he  walked  out  after  the  scrimmage 
was  over,  lookin'  as  cool  as  ever.  He  looked 
back  when  he  got  to  the  door  an'  says,  *  Good 
night.  See  you  again.'  But  we  never  did. 
He  left  town  the  next  mornin'  on  an  early 
boat.  I've  often  thought,  though,  that  it 
were  a  merciful  dispensation  that  he  didn't 
know  enough  poker  to  raise  instead  o' 
callinV 


XVII 

AN  EXTRA  ACE 

"SPEAKIN'  by  an'  large,"  said  old  man 
Greenhut,  as  he  bit  off  the  end  of  a  fresh 
cigar  and  settled  himself  in  his  favourite  seat 
at  the  window,  "  there  ain't  no  question  but 
what  the  game  o'  draw-poker  is  about  as  nigh 
perfect  as  anything  that  was  ever  devised 
by  the  mind  o'  man,  an'  developed  by  the 
constant  study  o'  countless  generations. 
They  say  there  ain't  no  record  o'  poker  bein' 
played  in  former  ages,  an'  that  faro  was 
played  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  ago, 
when  a  feller  named  Faro  was  King  of 
Egypt,  but  it  stands  to  reason  there  ain't  no 
truth  in  that.  Like  enough  faro  is  a  old 
game.  I  ain't  a-sayin'  nothin'  against  faro. 
It  suits  them  that  likes  it,  but  it's  gamblin', 
an'  naturally  it  belongs  to  the  heathen  that 
started  it. 

213 


214 STAND    PAT 

"  But  poker's  teetotally  different.  No  such 
system  as  that  of  draw-poker  ever  growed  up 
in  a  night  like  Jonah's  gourd,  nor  it  wa'n't 
put  together  by  no  single  set  o'  fellers. 
Stands  to  reason  it's  the  crownin'  develop 
ment  of  all  the  civilization  the  world  ever 
seen.  An'  it  don't  seem  likely,  now  that  the 
straight  an'  the  straight  flush  has  been  dis 
covered,  an'  universally  recognized,  that 
there's  ever  goin'  to  be  no  changes  into  the 
game.  It's  perfect  as  it  is,  an'  there  ain't 
no  chanst  o'  makin'  it  any  more  perfect. 

"  An'  yet  there  is  times  when  even  the  best 
players  is  obliged  to  rely  on  outside  influ 
ences  to  help  'em  out  o'  some  great  emer 
gency  o'  the  game.  That  ain't  no  fault  o' 
the  game,  for  as  I  said,  the  game  is  all  right, 
but  it  goes  to  show  that  a  man  as  relies  on 
on'y  one  thing  is  goin'  to  get  left  when  he 
stacks  up  against  some  feller  that  relies  on 
the  same  thing  an'  has  something  else  up  his 
sleeve  besides.  An'  that  there  somethin'  else 
is  got  to  be  more'n  a  knowledge  o'  cards. 

"  O'  course  if  a  man  reely  understands  the 
game  as  he'd  oughter,  an'  can  handle  the 


AN   EXTRA  ACE  215 

cards  so's  to  give  himself  what  he  needs  in 
the  draw  when  it  comes  to  a  desprit  struggle 
between  him  an'  the  other  feller,  an'  can  read 
the  backs  o'  the  cards  well  enough  to  have  a 
good  general  idee  o'  what  the  other  feller  is 
holdin',  why  he  can  worry  along  under  ordi 
nary  circumstances  so's  he  can  hold  his  own 
most  o'  the  time,  an'  make  enough  over  from 
time  to  time  to  pay  his  livin'  expenses.  But 
that's  all  a  part  o'  draw-poker,  same  as  it's  a 
part  o'  the  game  not  to  be  found  out  when 
you're  obliged  to  change  the  natural  order  o' 
the  cards.  There  is  folks  that  has  prejudices 
against  them  things,  an'  if  a  man  is  clumsy 
enough  to  get  found  out,  why,  o'  course  he's 
goin'  to  get  hisself  in  more  or  less  trouble, 
but  I  maintain  so  long  as  they're  done  slick 
enough  to  not  be  seen,  they  are  as  legitimate 
as  anything  else  in  draw-poker.  That's  the 
way  Arkansas  City  has  come  to  have  the 
reputation  it  has.  There's  some  o'  the 
slickest  players  on  the  river  right  there  in 
that  town,  an'  nobody  has  ever  caught  'em 
usin'  marked  cards,  or  holdin'  out,  or  dealin' 


216 STAND    PAT 

out  o'  the  middle  or  off'n  the  bottom  of  the 
deck. 

"  But  what  I  mean  about  outside  influences 
is  entirely  different.  There  comes  a  time, 
sometimes,  when  a  man  is  obliged  to  think 
quick  an'  act  quick  in  order  to  keep  some  un 
scrupulous  stranger  from  sweepin'  away  all 
his  hard-earned  winnin's  in  one  fell  pot.  At 
such  times  even  a  thorough  knowledge  o' 
poker  ain't  a  goin'  to  save  a  man  thouten  he's 
quick  enough  to  think  an'  has  sand  enough  to 
act  on  the  instant. 

"  There  was  an  instance  o'  that  in  Arkansas 
City  the  time  when  Hank  Fairfax  an'  his 
side-partner,  Billy  Overton,  come  up  here 
from  Vicksburg  to  do  up  the  town,  an'  come 
so  near  doin'  it.  It  were  a  great  night,  an' 
on'y  for  Sam  Pearsall's  presence  o'  mind  an' 
prompt  action  I  reckon  we'd  ha'  lost  prestige 
right  then  an'  there. 

"  There  couldn't  no  one  find  fault  with 
Hank  an'  his  partner,  for  they  come  in  like 
men  an'  said,  open  an'  above  board,  just  what 
they'd  come  for.  Hank  put  it  kind  o'  brutal, 
but  he  was  fair  an'  square  about  it.  He  said: 


AN   EXTRA   ACE  217 

1  We  Vicksburg  sports  is  plumb  tired  hearin' 
about  Arkansas  City  poker,  an'  Billy  an'  I 
has  come  to  give  you  jays  a  few  lessons  on 
how  the  game  reely  ought  to  be  played.  If 
any  of  you  has  the  sand  to  play  up  against  the 
real  thing,  now's  your  time,  but  this  ain't  no 
crossroads  proposition.  We  are  out  for  the 
stuff  an'  we  propose  to  carry  it  back  with 
us.' 

"  Well,  you  know  there  ain't  nobody  from 
nowhere  that  can  let  out  a  yawp  like  that  in 
Arkansas  City  without  bein'  took  up  sudden. 
'Twa'n't  eight  minutes  by  the  clock  after  he'd 
peeped,  afore  him  an'  Billy  an'  Sam  Pearsall 
an'  Jake  Winterbottom  an'  Joe  Bassett  was 
sittin'  'round  the  table  countin'  out  their 
chips.  They  each  put  up  a  thousand  an' 
made  it  a  table  stakes  game.  i  We  didn't 
come  here  to  play  old  maid,'  said  Billy,  when 
somebody  asked  what  the  game  should  be. 
'  Let's  have  somethin'  worth  playin'  for,'  he 
says,  an'  they  was  all  agreed. 

"  Well,  just  naturally  they  all  played  right 
up  under  their  collar  buttons  at  first,  bein' 
anxious  to  get  on  to  one  another's  play. 


218 STAND   PAT 

There  hadn't  none  of  our  boys  even  played 
with  Fairfax,  but  they  all  knowed  him  by 
reputation  as  one  o'  the  slickest  players  in 
Mississippi,  an'  they  wa'n't  takin'  no  chances 
on  his  deal.  Overton  we  didn't  none  of  us 
know  much  about,  'ceptin'  he  had  the  name 
o'  bein'  a  cool  hand  in  a  quarrel  and  a  bad 
man  in  a  fight.  We  knowed  he  played 
poker,  course,  just  as  everybody  does,  but  we 
hadn't  heard  o'  his  bein'  counted  no  crack 
player,  such  as  Hank  would  be  sure  to  have 
with  him,  an'  we  was  a  little  slow,  too,  about 
sizin'  him  up,  not  knowin'  what  his  particu 
lar  graft  might  be. 

"  Bein'  for  them  reasons  a  trifle  more  cau 
tious  than  usual,  the  boys,  as  I  said,  was  slow 
about  startin'  in,  an'  any  way  the  cards  ran 
small  for  awhile,  but  all  of  a  sudden  there 
was  somethin'  doin'  on  Winterbottom's  deal. 
It  was  a  jack-pot  with  thirty  dollars  in  it,  an' 
Hank  havin'  first  say,  opened  it  for  thirty. 
Pearsall,  he  came  next  an'  he  come  in.  Bas- 
sett  was  the  next  player  an'  he  raised  it  thirty. 
Overton  made  it  thirty  more  and  Winterbot- 
tom  h'isted  it  fifty.  Fairfax  raised  it  a  hun- 


AN   EXTRA   ACE 219 

dred  an'  Pearsall  says :  *  I  didn't  want  to 
raise  it  the  first  time  round  for  fear  o'  scarin' 
some  of  ye  out,  but  as  long  as  I've  got  you  all 
hooked,'  he  says,  i  it'll  cost  ye  two  hundred 
more  to  draw  cards.' 

"  Just  naturally  I  was  lookin'  for  some  of 
'em  to  drop  out  after  that  kind  o'  play,  but 
every  one  of  'em  stayed.  There  wa'n't  no 
more  raisin'  done.  I  reckon  they  all  thought 
four  hundred  an'  forty  dollars  apiece  was 
enough  to  put  up  before  the  draw,  which 
sure  it  was  in  a  game  o'  that  size. 

"  When  it  come  to  the  draw  there  was  an 
other  surprise.  Every  man  at  the  table  stood 
pat.  Well,  just  naturally  it  were  pretty  thin 
ice  to  dance  on,  an'  nobody  seemed  to  know 
for  a  minute  or  two  just  how  to  bet,  havin' 
nothin'  to  guide  him  but  his  own  hand  and 
the  fact  that  there  was  four  pat  hands  out 
against  it. 

"  Fairfax,  o'  course,  knowed  just  what  to 
do.  He  put  up  a  white  chip.  There  was  no 
doubt  about  his  havin'  a  chance  to  play  later, 
an'  he  were  easy.  Pearsall  studied  a  bit,  but 
finally  he  decided  to  wait,  too,  havin'  de- 


220 STAND    PAT 

clared  hisself  before  the  draw,  so  he  chipped 
along.  Bassett  wasn't  raisin',  neither,  for  he 
knowed  Pearsall's  play  pretty  well,  an'  havin' 
only  a  small  flush  he  didn't  feel  strong,  so  he 
chipped  along. 

"  That  brought  it  up  to  Overton  again,  an' 
he,  thinkin',  I  reckon,  that  it  was  up  to  him 
to  help  Fairfax  along  whether  his  own  hand 
was  good  or  not,  put  up  a  hundred  dollars. 
It  were  a  queer  bet,  but  I  sized  it  up  for  the 
beginnin'  of  a  seesaw  in  case  Fairfax  should 
want  one.  That  might  not  ha'  been  what  was 
in  his  mind,  but  I  reckon  'twa'n't  far  out  o' 
the  way. 

"  Winterbottom  seen  the  raise.  He  were 
lookin'  for  more  developments,  an'  he  wa'n't 
ready  to  play  his  hand  very  strong  till  he 
found  out  what  was  doin'.  It  were  extra 
cautious  play  all  round,  with  the  advantage 
lyin'  between  Fairfax  an'  Pearsall,  but 
mostly  on  Pearsall's  side. 

"  Fairfax  put  up  two  hundred  an'  I  seen  he 
were  ready  for  a  seesaw.  I  don't  know  what 
might  ha'  happened  if  there'd  been  more 
money  on  the  table,  but  Pearsall  saw  his  op- 


AN   EXTRA   ACE 221 

portunity  an'  grabbed  it.  He  counted  his 
chips  an'  findin'  six  hundred  in  front  of  him, 
threw  it  all  in  the  pot. 

"  Bassett  throwed  down  his  flush  like  a 
man,  an'  Overton  called  for  a  show  for  his 
pile,  which  wa'n't  quite  big  enough  for  a 
call.  That  put  it  up  to  Winterbottom,  an'  he 
skinned  his  hand  over  again,  thinkin'  mighty 
hard.  He  had  a  full  hand  an'  money  enough 
to  raise.  An'  more  than  that,  he'd  dealt  the 
cards  hisself,  so  he  wa'n't  worried  none  on 
that  account,  but  finally  he  just  made  good. 
He  said  to  me  afterward,  '  I  would  ha' 
raised,'  he  says,  '  but  I  reckoned  Fairfax  was 
goin'  to  raise  again,  an'  the  others  was  all  in, 
so  I  gave  him  the  chance.' 

"  But  Fairfax  was  as  rattled  as  the  rest  of 
'em  was,  an'  he  only  called.  Then  it  come 
out  that  there  was  two  flushes  an'  two  fulls  in 
the  game,  not  reckonin'  the  flush  that  Bassett 
had  throwed  down.  Winterbottom's  flush 
beat  Overton's,  bein'  ace  high,  an'  Pearsall's 
ace  full  o'  course  beat  Fairfax's  jack  full. 

"  It  were  a  body  blow  for  fair.  Fairfax 
an'  Overton  seen  they'd  overplayed  their 


222 STAND    PAT 

hands,  an'  they  was  sore  enough  to  make  a 
beef  about  it,  on'y  they  knowed  it  were  too 
late.  There  wa'n't  nothin'  to  say,  'thouten 
they'd  kicked  on  Jake's  dealin',  an'  they 
couldn't  do  that  after  they'd  played  the  hand 
an'  lost.  The  on'y  thing  they  c'd  do  was  to 
quit  or  put  up  again.  They  wa'n't  quittin', 
so  they  put  up  another  thousand  apiece  an' 
played  along.  Bassett  had  chips  left  an' 
Pearsall  was  on  velvet. 

"  There  wa'n't  no  heavy  play  again  right 
away,  but  luck  run  to  the  Vicksburg  fellers 
for  awhile,  so's't  they  picked  up  a  few  hun 
dred  in  the  next  half-hour,  mostly  on  pots 
they  raked  in  without  a  call.  Our  boys  was 
playin'  as  careful  as  they  was  an'  was  layin' 
for  a  chanst  at  'em. 

"  Bimeby  then  comes  a  hand  where  Fair 
fax  an'  Bassett  did  some  crisscross  business. 
Bassett  had  been  playin'  close  f'm  the  first, 
an'  he  had  pretty  near  all  o'  his  original  wad 
left,  spite  o'  what  he'd  lost  on  that  flush,  so 
when  he  caught  three  deuces  on  Pearsall's 
deal  an'  it  were  a  jack-pot  that  had  been 
pretty  well  fattened,  he  just  opened  it  for 


AN    EXTRA   ACE  223 

fifty  without  much  fear  o'  the  consequences. 
All  the  others  laid  down  except  Fairfax,  an' 
he  come  in  on  a  pair  of  aces.  He  took  three 
cards,  but  Bassett  only  drawed  one.  'Twa'n't 
extry  good  play,  for  his  threes  waVt  big 
enough  to  play  'em  very  strong  'thouten  he 
was  goin'  to  bluff,  an'  he  might  better  ha' 
drawed  two  cards,  relyin'  on  Fairfax  thinkin' 
his  threes  was  bigger'n  they  was,  but  luck 
was  with  him  in  the  draw  'n'  he  catched  the 
other  deuce. 

"Just  naturally  he  felt  good,  an'  thinkin' 
mebbe  Fairfax  might  ha'  bettered  an'  might 
raise,  he  throwed  in  a  chip. 

"  Fairfax  fumbled  his  cards  a  minute  afore 
he  picked  'em  up.  I  don't  know  whether  he 
were  a-studyin'  or  whether  it  were  a  accident, 
but  everybody  noticed  it,  an'  it  were  lucky 
they  did,  as  things  turned  out.  But  when  he 
did  pick  up  his  hands  he  smiled  a  bit  an' 
throwed  two  fifty  in  the  pot. 

"  That  were  just  what  Bassett  were  looking 
for,  an'  he  shoved  all  his  chips  to  the  centre 
o'  the  table  without  countin'  'em.  O'  course 
Fairfax  couldn't  raise  no  more;  but  he 


224 STAND    FAT 

counted  up,  an'  findin'  it  took  six  hundred  to 
call,  he  called. 

"  Bassett  showed  down  his  four  deuces  an' 
says :  '  I  reckon  that's  good,'  an'  he  reached 
for  the  pot,  but  Fairfax  says,  '  Hold  on. 
That's  a  pretty  good  hand,  but  aces'll  beat  it 
if  you  have  enough  of  'em,'  and  he  showed 
down  four  aces. 

"  Right  there  was  when  Sam  Pearsall 
showed  his  resources.  O'  course,  so  fur  as 
poker  goes,  that  is,  so  fur  as  the  reglar  game 
goes,  Fairfax  won  the  pot  all  right,  but,  as  I 
was  sayin',  there  is  things  outside  o'  the  reg 
lar  game  that  a  man  can  rely  on  in  a  emer 
gency  if  he's  quick  to  think  an'  quick  to  act, 
an'  Sam  were  always  as  quick  as  a  cat. 

"  I  don't  know  how  it  happened  that  Sam 
had  a  ace  o'  diamonds  hid  away  somewheres, 
but  they'd  changed  the  deck  several  times, 
an'  I  reckon  he  must  ha'  thought  it  might 
come  in  handy  to  rigger  on,  or  somethin*  o' 
that  sort.  Anyway,  he  had  it,  an'  it  were  the 
same  pattern  back  as  the  deck  they  was 
playin'  with.  So  he  speaks  up  quick.  '  Hold 
on  you,'  he  says.  '  There's  somethin'  wrong 


AN    EXTRA   ACE  225 

here.  I  discarded  the  ace  o'  diamonds/  he 
says,  an'  reachin'  over  quick,  he  turns  the  dis 
card  pile  face  up,  an'  spreadin'  out  the  cards, 
sure  enough  there  were  the  ace. 

"  O'  course  that  queered  Fairfax's  hand 
right  away.  They  counted  the  cards,  an'  sure 
enough  there  were  fifty-three  cards  in  the 
deck.  Just  naturally  Fairfax  an'  Overton 
smelled  a  mice,  an'  they  called  on  me  to 
bring  back  the  cards  I'd  gathered  up  every 
time  they'd  called  for  a  new  deck,  an'  I  did 
it. 

"  They  picked  out  the  deck  o'  the  same 
pattern  they  was  usin'  an'  counted  that,  an' 
just  naturally  they  found  fifty-one  cards  in  it, 
but  no  ace  o'  diamonds.  It  was  clear  enough 
where  the  card  had  come  from,  but  the  ques 
tion  was  how  it  come  where  it  was,  an'  there 
was  no  way  o'  tellin'  whether  the  missin'  card 
was  the  one  that  Fairfax  held  in  his  hand,  or 
whether  it  was  the  one  that  Pearsall  had 
showed  in  the  discard  pile. 

"  There  wa'n't  much  said.  Everybody  re 
membered  how  Fairfax  had  fumbled  his 
cards,  but  nobody  cared  to  say  nothin'  about 


226 STAND    PAT 

it,  for  there  wa'n't  no  use  o'  havin'  to  fight 
with  a  man  like  Fairfax  when  Overton  was 
along,  specially  as  the  pot  had  to  be  divided 
anyhow.  It  were  a  foul  deck  beyond  a  ques 
tion,  and  there  wa'n't  no  dispute  when  Bas- 
sett  took  back  his  chips. 

"  Fairfax  were  mad  clear  through,  though. 
He  didn't  say  much,  but  he  got  up  an'  reck 
oned  he  didn't  care  to  play  no  more  in  a 
game  where  four  aces  wa'n't  good.  It 
wa'n't  really  what  one  would  have  expected 
from  a  dead  game  sport  such  as  he  had  the 
name  o'  bein',  but  we  had  the  satisfaction  o' 
seein'  him  an'  Overton  go  back  to  Vicksburg 
without  makin'  their  bluff  good,  even  if 
they  didn't  leave  their  money  behind  'em. 

"  Which  goes  to  show,  as  I  said,  that  there 
is  times  when  a  man  has  to  rely  on  outside 
influences  even  in  playin'  poker." 


XVIII 

PLAYED  BY  THE  BOOK 

"  THERE'S  a  powerful  lot  o'  people  in  this 
here  world,"  said  old  man  Greenhut,  as 
he  rinsed  out  a  couple  of  whiskey-glasses 
and  set  them  away,  "  that  seems  to  think 
they  is  appointed  by  a  all-wise  Providence 
to  set  other  folks  right.  It  don't  seem  to 
make  no  difference  what's  done,  or  who  does 
it,  or  how  it's  done,  they're  always  ready  to 
chip  a  lot  of  advice  into  the  pot,  an'  tell  'em 
how  they'd  oughter  done  it  different. 

"  Mostly  such  folks  is  born  fools  an'  don't 
know  no  more  about  things  in  general  than 
a  hound  pup  in  the  wilderness  knows  about 
the  plan  o'  salvation,  but  you  couldn't  make 
one  o'  'em  realize  what  a  fool  he  is  if  you 
was  to  cut  his  head  open  an'  try  to  squirt 
sense  into  it.  What's  this  the  Good  Book 
says?  It's  somethin'  about  if  you  pound 

227 


228 STAND    PAT 

a  fool  up  in  a  mortar  and  shoot  him  out 
with  the  bombshells,  yet  will  not  his  folly 
depart  from  him. 

"  There  hain't  nothing  as  I  said,  but  what 
critters  like  them  will  try  to  put  right  ac- 
cordin'  to  their  own  notions,  an'  the  result, 
so  far  as  I've  ever  seed  it,  is  tol'able  cer 
tain  to  be  a  mixup  of  the  worst  sort.  An' 
when  they  gets  into  a  game  o'  poker  there's 
more  bad  blood  stirred  up  in  a  hour  than 
good,  steady  play  for  six  months'd  be 
likely  to  bring  up.  Sometimes  it's  on'y 
nasty  words,  an'  sometimes  it's  a  gun-play. 
But  when  such  a  critter  gets  hold  o'  one  o' 
these  here  poker  manuals  such  as  I  seed  the 
other  day  that's  just  been  published  in  the 
East,  an'  undertakes  to  make  a  civilized  com 
munity  swaller  his  raw  notions  just  because 
some  feller  that  never  played  poker  on  the 
Mississippi  has  had  'em  printed  in  a  book, 
he  can  just  about  cover  the  underside  o' 
the  sky  with  cobwebs  o'  perplexity  spun  out 
o'  the  brains  o'  good  men  that  gets  bewil 
dered  listenin'  to  'em. 

"The  way  I  come  to  see  this  here  book 


PLAYED    BY    THE    BOOK     229 

I'm  tellin'  about  was  through  a  little  game 
that  the  boys  got  up  last  week  to  oblige  a 
travellin'  Easterner  that  stopped  over  for  a 
few  days  to  look  at  some  plantations  up  the 
river  a  bit,  that  was  offered  to  a  British 
syndicate  at  a  figger  that  wouldn't  ha'  paid 
more'n  100  per  cent,  profit  to  the  owners  if 
the  deal  had  went  through.  They  said  this 
here  Wanderin'  Willie  boy  was  some  sort 
of  a  big-bug  in  business  matters  when  he 
was  to  home,  an'  he  was  travellin'  in  cogs, 
whatever  them  is.  Anyway,  he  didn't  want 
nobody  to  know  who  he  was,  an'  he  was  called 
Mr.  Hapgood  when  he  was  travellin',  an'  the 
keeper  that  had  him  in  charge  treated  him 
as  if  he  was  made  o'  glass.  Hapgood  called 
him  his  valet,  an'  ordered  him  round  like 
he  was  a  hired  man,  an'  the  keeper  never 
made  no  fuss  at  all  about  it. 

"  Hapgood  was  pokin'  round  town  ask- 
in'  all  sorts  o'  questions  of  everybody,  an' 
some  o'  the  boys  referred  him  to  me  for  gen 
eral  information,  so  he  come  in  that  evenin' 
an'  chinned  with  me  for  half  an  hour.  He 
bought  liquor  for  the  house  two  or  three 


230 STAND   PAT 

times,  an'  somehow  or  another  there  was 
quite  a  crowd  in  here  after  the  first  round. 
I  seen  there  was  some  o'  the  crack  players  in 
the  place,  an'  it  kind  o'  reminded  me  o'  the 
popularity  o'  the  game  here,  so  when  Hap- 
good  ast  me,  as  he  did,  what  the  leadin' 
industries  o'  Arkansas  City  was,  I  mentioned 
draw-poker  among  'em.  He  kind  o'  laughed 
as  if  I'd  said  somethin'  funny,  an'  said  he 
hadn't  been  in  the  habit  o'  thinkin'  of  it  as 
a  industry,  but  he'd  given  considerable  study 
to  the  game  an'  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  just  about  the  real  thing.  I  ast 
him  if  he  played  it  much  an'  he  said  no,  not 
exactly,  but  him  an'  four  or  five  o'  his  friends 
had  got  hold  o'  this  here  manual,  as  he  called 
it,  an'  had  practised  quite  a  lot,  so's't  he  con 
sidered  himself  a  first-class  player. 

"  Well,  just  naturally  I  gave  him  to  un 
derstand  that  we  had  some  players  in  town 
that  we  thought  was  able  to  hold  up  their 
end  against  any  ordinary  player,  an'  that 
they  would  consider  it  a  privilege  to  make 
up  a  game  most  any  time  if  they  could  get 
a  first-class  player  to  give  them  points. 


PLAYED    BY    THE    BOOK     231 

They  was  always  anxious  to  learn,  I  said, 
an'  if  he  would  like  to  get  the  benefit  of  a 
little  practice,  I  thought  they  would  arrange 
it  soYt  he  could  have  the  opportunity. 

"  You'd  ha'  thought  he  was  a  bullfrog 
jumpin'  for  a  piece  o'  red  flannel  if  you'd 
ha'  seen  how  quick  he  took  it  up.  He  was 
more  than  ready,  an'  the  boys  seein'  how 
eager  he  was  kind  o'  hung  back  to  be 
coaxed,  but  old  Jake  Winterbottom,  he 
pleaded  with  'em  till  he  got  Jim  Blaisdell 
an'  Sam  Pearsall  an'  Joe  Bassett  to  set  in 
with  him  an'  make  a  five-handed  game. 

"They  set  down  at  the  table  as  they  was 
in  the  habit  of  doin',  just  takin'  any  old 
place  that  happened,  an'  Hapgood  he  says, 
kind  o'  surprised,  '  We'll  have  to  cut  for 
choice  o'  seats,  won't  we?' 

"  The  boys  was  more  surprised  than  he 
was,  and  Winterbottom,  he  says,  '  I  don't  see 
no  objection  to  that,  but  if  anybody  has  any 
choice  o'  seats  he  can  have  it  as  fur  as  I'm 
concerned.  I  don't  see  no  use  o'  cuttin'.' 

"  '  Well,'  says  Hapgood,  '  the  rules  says  we 
must  cut  for  choice.  You're  goin'  to  play 


232  STAND    PAT 

accordin'  to  the  rules,  ain't  you?  As  I  un 
derstand  it,  poker  ought  to  be  played  strict 
under  the  rules.' 

" '  You're  dead  right  on  that,  stranger,' 
says  Joe  Bassett,  givin'  Winterbottom  a 
kick  in  the  shins  under  the  table.  '  You  can 
bet  this  game  is  goin'  to  be  played  ac- 
cordin'  to  rules  if  I'm  in  it.  An'  it  won't  be 
healthy  for  the  man  that  breaks  the  rules.' 

"  So  they  cuts  for  choice  o'  seats,  and 
Pearsall  cut  low.  That  give  him  the  choice 
o'  seats,  and  he  said  he'd  set  where  he  was. 
Winterbottom  was  next  lowest  man  an'  he 
said  he'd  set  where  he  was,  too.  He  was 
suited  well  enough.  But  Hapgood,  he 
spoke  up  again  an'  he  says  that  won't  do. 
The  second  lowest  man  must  set  next  on  the 
left  o'  the  low  man,  an'  the  third  lowest  next 
on  his  left,  an'  so  on. 

"  Winterbottom  started  in  to  cuss  a  little, 
not  because  he  cared  a  cuss,  but  just  because 
he  was  surprised,  but  he  got  another  kick 
in  the  shins,  an'  takin'  a  sudden  tumble  to 
hisself,  he  jumped  up  an'  took  his  proper 
seat.  When  they'd  all  got  seated  again  Joe 


PLAYED   BY   THE    BOOK     233 

Bassett  ast  in  a  general  sort  o'  way  what  good 
all  that  did,  an'  Hapgood  says,  '  Why,  that's 
one  o'  the  laws  in  the  International  Code. 
You  have  to  do  it  before  you  play  or  else 
the  game  wouldn't  be  regular.' 

"'That's  right,'  says  Joe  Bassett.  'We 
must  play  by  the  rules,  but,  stranger,  we 
ain't  exactly  posted  on  this  here  Inter 
national  Code.  We  play  the  old  Mississippi 
River  rules,  the  Mississippi  River  bein'  the 
place  where  the  game  was  born  an'  growed 
up.  If  there's  a  International  Code  we'd 
like  to  know  about  it,  an'  if  you'll  tell  us 
all  about  it  as  we  play,  we'd  think  it  mon 
strous  kind  o'  you.' 

"Well,  Hapgood  says  he'll  do  it  with 
pleasure,  'n'  he  spoke  to  his  keeper  an'  tells 
him  to  go  over  to  the  hotel  an'  get  the 
manual  out  of  his  portmanteau.  *  The  code 
is  in  that,'  he  says.  So  the  keeper  he  starts, 
an'  the  boys  cut  for  deal  accordin'  to  custom, 
an'  Jake  gets  it.  He  shuffles  an'  offers  the 
deck  to  Pearsall,  who  sits  on  his  right,  to 
cut,  but  Hapgood  speaks  up  an'  says  that 
ain't  right.  '  The  ante  man  is  the  man  that 


234 STAND    PAT 

cuts  the  cards,'  he  says.  '  I  don't  know  as 
it  makes  any  great  difference,'  he  says,  l  who 
cuts  'em,  but  that's  what  the  book  says.' 

"  Winterbottom,  he's  gettin'  a  little  bit 
old,  an'  he's  kind  o'  sot  in  his  ways,  an'  I 
c'd  see  that  he  was  gettin'  sort  o'  rattled,  but 
before  he  c'd  say  anything,  Bassett,  he  spoke 
up  again.  '  It  don't  really  make  no  differ 
ence,  I  reckon,'  he  says,  '  but  if  the  book  says 
that  the  ante  man  must  cut,  why,  he's  goin' 
to  cut.  On'y  you  see,  stranger,  we  hain't 
familiar  with  that  book  an'  we  been  in  the 
habit  o'  lettin'  the  feller  on  the  dealer's  right 
cut  the  cards.  It's  on'y  our  ignorance,  you 
know.  We're  willin'  to  learn  better.'  An' 
he,  bein'  the  age  himself,  reaches  over  and 
cuts  the  cards. 

"  Jake,  he  kind  o'  shakes  his  head  a  little, 
but  he  don't  say  nothin'  an'  he  starts  to  deal, 
but  Hapgood  he  speaks  up  again.  '  Before 
we  start,'  he  says,  '  we  must  have  it  under 
stood  whether  we  are  going  to  play  any  of 
the  variations  in  the  game.  We  play 
straights,  don't  we,  and  straight  flushes?' 

"  '  Oh,  yes,'  says  Bassett. 


PLAYED   BY   THE    BOOK     235 


U  < 


And  straights  beat  three  of  a  kind, 
don't  they? ' 

" '  Well,  yes,'  says  Bassett,  '  they  com 
monly  do,  when  you  get  'em.' 

" i  And  blazers,  do  we  play  them,  and 
jumpers?  And  do  we  play  with  a  joker? ' 

"  Bassett  was  puzzled  for  a  moment,  an' 
before  he  could  get  started  Winterbottom 
busted  loose.  'No!'  he  hollered,  just  like 
he  were  mad.  '  No,  we  don't  play  with  a 
joker,  nor  big  an'  little  casino,  nor  right  and 
left  bower,  nor  his  nobs,  nor  his  heels.  We 
play  draw-poker.  An'  we  don't  play  blazers 
nor  jumpers,  because  we  don't  know  what 
they  are  and  we  don't  care  a  darn.  We 
wouldn't  play  them  if  we  did  know.' 

"'Well,  well,'  says  Hapgood,  'that's  all 
right.  I  only  asked  because  they're  in  the 
book,  and  we  have  to  know,  you  know, 
before  we  play,  you  know.' 

"  *  Well,  we  know,'  growled  Jake  and  he 
started  to  deal  again.  While  he  was  deal 
ing  Bassett  put  up  his  ante  an'  Hapgood, 
who  set  next,  he  says,  '  I  straddle,'  an'  throws 
in  two  chips.  That  makes  it  four  to  play, 


236 STAND    PAT 

an'  Blaisdell  he  throws  down  his  cards. 
Pearsall  comes  in  an'  so  does  Winterbottom. 
Bassett  makes  good  an'  Hapgood  raises  it 
eight.  They  was  playin'  table  stakes. 

"  Pearsall,  havin'  next  say,  he  says,  '  I 
raise  you  eight/  an'  shoves  up  his  chips. 

"  '  Oh! '  says  Hapgood,  speakin'  up  quick. 
i  Then  you  don't  play  the  doublin'  game?' 

" '  What  in  thunder  is  the  doublin' 
game? '  says  Pearsall. 

"  '  Why  you  can't  raise  less  than  double 
what  the  last  bet  was,'  says  Hapgood. 

" '  Is  that  in  the  book? '  asked  Bassett, 
sudden  like. 

"  '  Yes,'  says  Hapgood. 

" ' Then  we  play  it,'  says  Bassett  very 
determined. 

"  '  Well,'  says  Pearsall,  '  I  raise  you  six 
teen  chips.' 

"  Winterbottom  he  studies  for  a  minute 
an'  he  says,  '  I'll  come  in,'  but  he  says  it 
kind  o'  slow. 

"  It  were  Bassett's  turn  next,  an'  he  says, 
'  I  raise  it  thirty-two  chips.' 

"  Things  was  gettin'  interestin'  about  then. 


PLAYED    BY    THE    BOOK     237 

It  were  quick  poker  even  for  Arkansas  City, 
an'  I  looked  to  see  some  layin'  down,  but 
they  all  had  pretty  good  cards  as  it  happened 
an'  they  all  made  good.  In  the  draw  Bassett 
took  one  card,  Hapgood  took  two,  Pearsall 
stood  pat,  an'  Winterbottom  took  two. 

"  Then  they  all  waited  for  a  minute  or  so, 
an'  finally  Winterbottom  says  to  Hapgood, 
1  It's  your  bet.' 

"  '  Oh,  no,'  says  Hapgood,  '  it  isn't  my  bet, 
I  straddled.' 

"  '  Well,  what  in  blue  blazes  has  that  got 
to  do  with  it? '  says  Pearsall. 

"  '  Why,  if  I  straddled  I  get  the  age,'  says 
Hapgood,  an'  the  boys  was  struck  dumb  for 
a  minute  or  so. 

"  Finally,  Bassett  he  caught  his  breath, 
an'  he  says,  '  Is  that  in  the  book? ' 

"  '  Why,  certainly,'  says  Hapgood,  an'  just 
then  his  keeper  come  in  with  the  book  in  his 
hand.  It  was  a  monstrous  pretty  little  red 
book,  too,  with  a  fancy  cover  an'  gilt  edges 
on  the  leaves. 

"  Well,  Bassett  he  were  gettin'  sort  o'  weak 
by  this  time,  but  he  managed  to  say,  '  I  ain't 


238 STAND    PAT 

doubtin'  your  word,  stranger,  but  this  here 
is  kind  o'  strong  liquor  for  us.  We  ain't 
used  to  it.  Don't  you  think  you're  mistaken? 
Do  you  think  that  any  man  that  knowed 
enough  about  poker  to  write  a  book  about  it 
would  put  that  in? ' 

" '  Well,  it's  right  here,'  says  Hapgood, 
opening  the  book.  i  It's  law  44  in  the  In 
ternational  Code.  You'll  see  it  on  page  100. 
It  says:  "The  straddle  transfers  the  age 
from  the  ante  man  to  the  straddler,"  '  and 
he  read  it  and  showed  it. 

"  The  boys  looked  at  one  another  for  a 
little,  as  if  nobody  could  say  anything,  an' 
I  reckon  they  couldn't  right  away,  but  finally 
Bassett  he  spoke  up,  an'  he  says:  *  We've 
started  to  play  this  here  game  accordin'  to 
the  rules,  an'  I  reckon  we'd  better  see  it 
through  for  one  deal,  anyhow.  Pearsall,  it's 
your  bet.' 

"  Pearsall  he  looked  kind  o'  faint,  but  he 
throwed  in  a  chip,  an'  Winterbottom  seed 
it,  an'  Bassett  he  come  in,  an'  Hapgood  he 
raised  it  ten.  Then  the  boys  seen  their  duty, 
an'  they  done  it  for  fair.  The  chips  was  a 


PLAYED    BY    THE    BOOK     239 

dollar,  an'  Pearsall  he  raised  it  twenty,  an' 
Winterbottom  he  raised  it  forty,  an'  Bassett 
he  raised  it  eighty,  makin'  about  half  a  mil 
lion  dollars  on  the  table.  Hapgood  he 
throwed  down  his  cards,  an'  Pearsall  an' 
Winterbottom  did  likewise,  so  nobody  found 
out  what  anybody  had. 

"  The  next  deal  was  about  the  same  story, 
on'y  they  all  come  in,  an'  after  they'd  coaxed 
Hapgood  along  till  he'd  put  up  a  fair-sized 
stake,  they  doubled  upon  him  four  times  in 
stead  of  three,  an'  he  throwed  down  again. 

"  That  brought  it  up  to  Hapgood's  deal, 
an'  I  reckon  he  must  ha'  been  a  little  rattled, 
seein'  how  he  wa'n't  likely  to  get  much  of 
a  show,  for  instead  o'  dealin'  cards  to  all 
five  players  he  on'y  dealt  out  four  hands. 
O'  course,  they  all  seen  what  he  was  doin', 
but  they  kind  o'  watched  him  to  see  if  it 
wa'n't  some  new  sort  of  a  trick  out  o'  that 
book  o'  his'n,  an'  when  he  finished  nobody 
moved  to  pick  up  his  cards.  An'  still  Hap 
good  didn't  seem  to  notice  nothin'  out  o'  the 
way,  so  Bassett  spoke  up  very  mild  an'  sub 
dued  like.  *  Ain't  that  a  misdeal,  stranger? 


240 STAND    PAT 

You  haven't  dealt  Winterbottom  any  cards. 
He's  in  the  game,  ain't  he?  " 

"  Then  Hapgood  seen  what  he'd  done  an' 
picked  up  the  deck  again.  *  Oh,  no,'  he  says, 
'  it  ain't  a  misdeal.  I'll  give  him  a  hand,' 
and  he  dealt  him  one  card  of!  the  top  of  the 
deck,  another  off  the  bottom,  the  next  off  the 
top,  the  next  off  the  bottom,  and  the  next  and 
last  off  the  top. 

"  Then  Winterbottom  turned  to  me  an' 
says:  '  Greenhut,  I  wish  you'd  bring  me  a 
drink  o'  red  liquor.  I  think  I'm  going  to 
faint.'  I  brought  it  to  him  quick,  for  he 
did  look  pale,  an'  he  ain't  as  young  as  he 
was.  After  he'd  swallowed  it  he  says  to 
Hapgood:  '  What  in  blue  blazes  is  that  sort 
o'  monkey  business  you  was  just  puttin'  up? 
Is  there  anything  in  that  extraordinary  thing 
you  call  a  book  that  says  for  you  to  do  a 
thing  like  that?  " 

"  '  Why,  certainly,'  says  Hapgood.  '  You'll 
find  it  in  law  34  of  the  International  Code, 
on  page  98.  "  If  too  few  hands  have  been 
dealt  or  a  player  has  been  omitted,  the  dealer 
shall  supply  the  omission  by  dealing  the 


PLAYED    BY    THE    BOOK     241 

necessary  number  of  cards  alternately  from 
the  top  and  bottom  of  the  pack."  There  it 
is.  You  can  read  it  for  yourself.' 

"  And  he  handed  the  book  to  Jake.  Jake 
took  it  and  looked  at  it  curiously  while  the 
rest  of  us  looked  over  his  shoulders.  The 
rule  was  there  and  so  were  the  other  things 
he  told  us  about.  And  the  book  was  pub 
lished  by  some  firm  in  London  and  another 
firm  in  New  York.  It  looked  like  a  sure 
enough  book.  It  even  had  the  author's  name 
printed  as  Templar.  I  was  almost  stunned. 
I  couldn't  think  of  anything  to  say.  Neither 
could  the  rest  of  the  boys  for  a  few  minutes, 
but  finally  Jake  handed  the  book  back  to 
Hapgood  an'  he  says,  mighty  serious  like, 
1  I  don't  find  no  fault  with  you,  stranger. 
You  mean  well,  an'  I  don't  reckon  you're  the 
man  that  wrote  this  book,  but  I  want  to  give 
you  a  little  good  advice.  If  you're  thinkin' 
o'  playin'  poker  much  while  you're  in  the 
country,  an'  think  o'  takin'  that  book  along 
with  you,  the  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  take 
out  an  all-fired  big  policy  o'  life  insurance. 
Your  heirs,  if  you  have  any,  is  liable  to  get 


242 STAND   PAT 

rich  monstrous  sudden  that  way.  As  for  me, 
I  think  I'll  cash  in.  I'm  open  to  play  draw- 
poker  at  any  time,  but  this  here  game  is  too 
rich  for  my  blood.' 

"  An'  that  broke  up  the  game.  I  don't 
know  whether  they  really  do  play  any 
such  poker  as  that  book  tells  about  in  the 
East,  but  'tain't  never  likely  to  be  played 
in  this  country.  It  does  beat  all  how  some 
folks  can  get  things  printed,  but  I  remember 
hearing  it  said  once  that  it  stood  to  reason 
that  nobody  would  ever  write  a  book  on  how 
to  play  poker  if  he  knowed,  'cause  if  he 
knowed  he'd  play  enough  not  to  need  to 
write  for  a  livin'." 


XIX 

ONLY  ONE  SURE  WAY  TO  WIN 

"  'PEARS  to  me,"  said  old  man  Greenhut, 
as  he  leaned  his  elbows  on  the  bar  and  pulled 
viciously  at  a  very  black  cigar  to  keep  it 
alight,  "  like  there  was  a  monstrous  lot  o' 
foolishness  talked  about  the  game  o'  draw- 
poker.  Fellers'll  tell  you  with  tears  in  their 
mouth  about  gettin'  beat  at  the  game  an' 
about  the  hard  mess  of  luck  they  have  an' 
how  some  other  player'll  always  hold  over 
'em  or  pull  out  against  their  pat  flushes  an' 
wipe  up  the  floor  with  'em  when  they'd 
oughter  have  the  pot  cinched  according  to 
all  laws.  Oh,  there  ain't  no  end  to  hard 
luck  stories.  They're  thicker  than  cold  mo 
lasses,  but  there  hain't  no  sense  into  'em. 
O'  course,  a  man  may  get  hit  hard  now  an' 
again  when  he  ain't  lookin'  for  it  —  he  may 
get  kicked  by  a  mule  sometimes  when  he 

243 


244 STAND    PAT 

thinks  he's  out  o'  the  mule's  reach;  but  a 
man  that  gets  kicked  all  the  time  is  either 
a  jackass  or  else  he  don't  know  mules. 

"  So  with  poker.  No  man  that  knows 
poker  is  goin'  to  get  beat  at  it  all  the  time, 
an'  the  man  that  does  get  beat  nine  times  out 
o'  ten  beats  hisself.  'Tain't  the  other  fellers' 
play  half  as  much  as  it  is  takin'  fool  chances 
that  makes  men  walk  home  'stead  o'  takin' 
the  cars.  There's  a  heap  o'  talk  about  one 
man  playin'  better  poker  than  another  man, 
but  my  experience  tells  me  that  the  prin 
cipal  trouble  is  not  that  one  man  plays  bet 
ter  than  another,  but  that  one  man  don't 
play  so  well  as  another.  An'  it  stands  to 
reason  that  when  a  man  don't  play  as  well 
as  the  other  feller  he's  goin'  to  beat  hisself. 

"  There  was  Jake  Winterbottom,"  contin 
ued  the  old  man,  as  he  straightened  himself 
up  and  walked  around  to  his  favourite  seat 
by  the  window.  Winterbottom  wasn't  in 
the  room  at  the  time,  or  probably  Greenhut 
would  not  have  mentioned  him  by  name. 

"  There  was  Jake  Winterbottom.  Jake  is 
a  powerful  good  player  now,  an'  I  reckon 


ONE   SURE  WAY  TO  WIN     245 

he  can  hold  his  end  up  in  the  most  select 
circles.  He's  played  steady  with  the  best 
talent  of  Arkansas  City  for  a  good  many 
years,  an'  any  man  that  can  do  that  don't 
have  to  have  no  trepidation  about  settin' 
in  with  the  best  of  'em. 

"  But  I  remember  the  time  when  Jake 
was  about  the  easiest  proposition  there  was 
to  be  found  all  up  an'  down  the  river. 
'Feared  like  there  wa'n't  no  possible  way 
o'  losin'  money  at  the  game  that  he  hadn't 
studied  out  an'  practised  till  he  had  'em 
all  down  pat.  He  c'd  lay  down  three  of  a 
kind  against  aces  up  with  the  same  monot 
onous  regularity  that  he'd  bet  a  straight 
against  a  full.  An'  he  didn't  have  no  sense 
about  the  draw.  He'd  pull  for  a  flush  every 
time  he  got  four  of  a  suit,  an'  sometimes 
when  he  had  only  three,  no  matter  what  the 
odds  was  in  the  bettin'.  An'  when  he  did 
happen  to  have  the  winnin'  hand,  if  he  bet 
it  at  all,  which  he  wouldn't  half  the  time, 
he  never  got  nothin'  to  speak  of  out  of  it. 

"  I  used  to  reason  with  him.  There  wa'n't 
no  reason  as  I  know  on  why  I  should,  for 


246 STAND   PAT 

he  wa'n't  nothin'  to  me,  more'n  a  fair,  aver 
age  customer,  but  somehow  or  other  I  allus 
cottoned  to  Jake  fm  the  time  he  struck  the 
town  till  he'd  come  to  be  recognized  as  one 
o'  the  leadin'  citizens.  'Feared  like  he  made 
a  impression  on  me  fm  the  first.  Anyway, 
I  felt  kind  o'  sorry  to  see  him  everlastingly 
buckin'  up  ag'in  a  game  that  was  too  much 
for  him,  an'  I  told  him  so,  many's  the  time. 

"  '  Jake,'  I  used  to  say  to  him,  '  you  hain't 
no  business  playin'  with  the  Arkansas  City 
crowd.  They'll  do  you,  sure.'  But  he'd 
always  say:  '  Greenhut,  I'm  learnin',  an' 
learnin'  is  allus  expensive.  One  o'  these 
days  I'll  do  'em.'  So  I  let  him  alone. 

"  'Feared  like  he  learned  all  of  a  sudden. 
He'd  been  pikin'  along,  playin'  a  fiddlin' 
game  whenever  he  got  a  chance  to  stick  his 
nose  in,  but  givin'  no  evidence  o'  talent  till 
this  one  night,  when  there  was  two  strangers 
come  in  to  do  the  talent.  Jake  was  here  an' 
he  had  about  seven  dollars  in  his  clothes 
when  they  made  up  a  table  stake  game  an' 
each  man  put  up  fifty  dollars.  There  was 
six  playin',  too,  so  there  was  three  hundred 


ONE  SURE  WAY  TO  WIN    247 

dollars  on  the  table  when  they  started.  Jake, 
he  looked  on  for  awhile  an'  never  peeped. 
Didn't  think  he'd  be  let  in  an'  consequent 
said  nothin'  till  three  of  the  home  talent 
dropped  out,  busted.  That  left  Sam  Pear- 
sail  playin'  agin  the  two  strangers,  an'  he 
were  nervous.  He  wa'n't  much  more'n 
holdin'  his  own,  an'  he  looked  round  to 
see  if  there  wasn't  somebody  to  set  in.  Joe 
Bassett  an'  Jim  Blaisdell  was  willin'  enough, 
but  they  had  no  money  left,  an'  Jake  seein' 
how  things  stood,  he  spoke  up  kind  o'  timid 
like,  an'  he  says:  'I  don't  reckon  I'd  last 
more'n  a  few  minutes,  but  I'll  take  a  hand 
if  you'll  let  me  play  for  what  I've  got.' 

"  Sam  spoke  up  quick  an'  says,  '  I  hain't 
no  objections,'  an'  the  two  strangers  says, 
kind  o'  careless,  *  Oh,  that's  all  right,'  so 
down  he  sets.  But  they  was  disgusted 
enough  when  they  seen  what  his  pile  was. 
He  dug  up  seven  dollars  an'  two  bits,  an' 
bought  his  chips  an'  took  a  hand. 

"  It  were  a  dollar  jack  an'  one  o'  the 
strangers  opened  it  for  four  dollars,  an'  Jake 
he  throwed  down.  The  stranger  he  win  it, 


248 STAND    PAT 

an'  the  next  deal  it  were  Jake's  ante.  He 
put  up  two  bits,  call  four,  an'  the  others  all 
come  in  an'  he  wouldn't  make  good.  That 
left  him  just  six  dollars,  but  it  were  his 
deal. 

"  When  I  seen  that  deal  I  kind  o'  says  to 
myself  that  mebbe  I'd  sorter  mistook  Winter- 
bottom,  an'  mebbe  he'd  been  practisin'  some. 
It  were  Pearsall's  ante,  an'  he  made  it  a 
dollar  to  play.  The  first  stranger,  he  were 
a  little  cross-eyed  man,  he  come  in,  an'  the 
other  feller  raised  it  two  dollars.  Jake  he 
made  good,  takin'  three  dollars,  an'  Sam  he 
raised  it  five.  Then  the  cross-eyed  man 
made  it  five  more  to  play,  an'  the  other  one 
stayed,  an'  Jake  called  for  a  sight  for  his 
pile. 

"  Sam  took  two  cards  an'  the  cross-eyed 
man  took  one.  The  next  man  took  two,  an' 
Jake  took  two.  Well,  they  all  filled.  Sam 
made  a  full,  the  cross-eyed  man  filled  a  flush, 
though  it  wa'n't  the  straight  flush  he  were 
after;  the  next  man  made  a  seven  full,  Sam's 
bein'  nines,  an'  Jake  caught  a  fourth  deuce. 

"  O'   course,    all   the   bettin'   was   amongst 


ONE   SURE  WAY  TO  WIN    249 

the  other  three,  Jake  on'y  havin'  a  show 
for  the  twenty-four  dollars  his  six  called 
for,  but  Sam  raked  in  considerable  over  a 
hundred  on  the  show-down. 

"  The  next  pot  were  a  jack  on  the  fours, 
an'  Sam  made  it  five  dollars  to  play.  Neither 
one  o'  the  strangers  opened,  so  it  were  up 
to  Jake,  an7  he  busted  it  for  nineteen  dol 
lars,  bein'  his  pile.  Sam  stayed  out  an'  the 
cross-eyed  man  came  in,  but  he  failed  to 
fill,  an'  Jake  was  on  velvet  with  forty-eight 
dollars  in  front  of  him,  havin'  opened  on 
two  jacks. 

"  There  was  nothin'  doin'  on  the  next  deal, 
so  that  made  it  a  dollar  jack,  an'  Jake's  first 
say.  He  opened  it  again  for  the  size  o'  the 
pot  an'  got  h'isted  twice,  so  it  cost  him  twenty 
more  to  play.  When  it  come  to  the  draw, 
he  said  he  reckoned  he'd  split  his  openers, 
an'  he  laid  aside  a  queen,  holdin'  up  four 
spades. 

"  Well,  that  made  a  rippin'  good  pot,  for 
he  filled  his  flush  an'  bet  all  he  had  before 
he  looked  at  his  draw.  Just  naturally,  Pear- 
sail  an'  the  cross-eyed  man  both  saw  the  bet, 


250 STAND    PAT 

Sam  havin'  three  aces  an'  the  other  man 
three  kings. 

"  By  this  time  they  was  all  gettin'  pretty 
sore  to  think  they'd  let  Jake  in  with  his 
seven  dollars,  but  it  were  too  late  to  kick, 
an'  when  it  come  his  deal  again,  as  it  were, 
the  next  hand,  I  says  to  myself  that  I'd  just 
about  make  up  my  mind  accordin'  to  what 
he  did  with  the  cards.  If  he  was  to  lose, 
I'd  consider  it  a  streak  o'  luck  that  he'd  been 
havin',  but  if  he  was  to  deal  'em  as  well 
as  he  had  afore,  I'd  conclude  that  he  was 
a-learnin'  the  game. 

"  Well,  after  that  deal  was  over,  I  never 
had  no  more  doubts  about  Winterbottom. 
O'  course,  havin'  as  much  money  as  he  had 
to  play  with,  'twa'n't  necessary  nor  proper 
to  look  after  Sam's  interest  in  the  pot,  so  he 
didn't  deal  Sam  nothin',  but  he  gave  the 
cross-eyed  man  three  aces  an'  the  other  feller 
a  pat  straight,  takin'  care  to  have  a  seven 
spot  handy  when  it  would  just  fit  into  his 
sevens  up  on  the  draw.  An'  the  bettin'  just 
come  so's't  he  had  a  chance  to  give  the  sec- 


ONE  SURE  WAY  TO  WIN    251 

ond  raise  an'  he  scooped  about  a  hundred 
an'  forty  dollars  on  that  pot. 

"  That  left  him  winnin'  tol'able  near  all 
there  was  on  the  table,  but  the  two  strangers 
they  both  dug,  an'  Sam  stayed  along  with 
about  thirty  dollars  that  he  had  left,  an'  the 
game  went  on. 

"  But,  Lord  bless  ye,  them  fellers  didn't 
have  no  show.  They  couldn't  win,  no  mat 
ter  what  they  did,  an'  the  game  broke  up 
in  about  twenty  minutes,  with  Pearsall  forty 
dollars  ahead,  an'  Jake  winnin'  all  the  other 
money  in  sight. 

"  I  ast  him  about  it  next  day  an'  he  told 
me  that  he'd  been  a-studyin'  the  game  all 
the  time  since  he'd  first  begun  to  play,  an' 
the  way  he  sized  it  up  it  were  no  use  for 
a  man  to  bet  on  any  cards  unless  he  had  a 
pretty  good  notion  what  was  out  against  him. 
'  Some  fellers  seems  to  know  it  by  instinct,' 
he  says,  '  an'  some  has  luck,  but  I  never  had 
no  luck  to  speak  of,  an'  when  I  come  to  tryin' 
to  judge  of  another  man's  cards  by  instinct, 
I  didn't  never  seem  to  strike  it  right,  so  I 
made  up  my  mind  that  the  on'y  thing  for 


252 STAND    PAT 

me  to  do  was  to  study  the  cards  an'  get  soYt 
I  c'd  tell  'em  by  the  feelin'.  It  takes  a  heap 
o'  work  learnin',  but  I  worked,  an'  if  I  do 
say  it,  Greenhut,  I  don't  reckon  there's  any 
man  on  the  river  that  can  come  nearer'n  I 
can  to  tellin'  what  cards  is  out,  specially 
when  I've  dealt  'em.' 

"  Well,  just  naturally,  a  man  with  such 
talents  as  that  ain't  a-goin'  to  have  his  light 
hid  under  no  bushel  basket  not  for  very  long. 
The  boys  reco'nized  his  talents  as  quick  as 
I  did,  an'  there  ain't  no  man  in  Arkansas 
City  as  is  more  respected  an'  more  thought 
of  than  Jake  is.  The  best  of  it  is  that  he's 
square  an'  don't  never  play  it  low  down  on 
the  home  talent.  But  when  it  comes  to  a 
difficult  proposition,  such  as  sometimes  has 
to  be  tackled  when  there's  a  couple  o'  clever 
strangers  in  town,  I  never  feel  safe  without 
thinkin'  Jake  Winterbottom  is  in  the  game. 
An'  if  he  is,  why,  the  strangers  don't  never 
get  away  with  no  alarmin'  amount  of  Ar 
kansas  City  money." 


XX 

KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH 

"  IT'S  a  most  surprisin'  thing,"  said  old 
man  Greenhut  as  he  set  the  bottles  away 
behind  the  bar,  "that  folks  don't  seem  to 
'predate  the  importance  o'  bein'  persistent. 
Now,  that  there  Si  Walker,  't  just  come  in 
here  an'  took  a  drink  an'  went  out  'thout 
sayin'  a  word  to  no  one,  is  a  bright  an'  shinin' 
example  o'  never  doin'  nothin'  worth  while, 
'cause  he  don't  never  stick  to  it.  Gits  dis 
couraged  like  an'  sets  down  an'  thinks  about 
it,  when  if  he'd  on'y  spit  on  his  hands  an' 
take  a  fresh  grip  he  mought  come  out  a  four- 
time  winner.  Why,  I  tell  you  that  man 
might  'a'  been  a  justice  o'  the  peace  an'  mar 
ried  the  Widow  Baker  with  four  hundred 
acres  o'  good  farm  land,  no  end  o'  stock  an' 
utensils,  an'  money  in  the  bank,  on'y  fer  that 
fatal  habit  o'  his  o'  not  stickin'  to  it.  Just 
give  up,  he  did,  'cause  he  got  beat  out  in  two 


253 


254 STAND    PAT 

'lections  an'  wouldn't  run  fer  office  no  more, 
an'  when  the  widow  said  no  three  or  four 
times,  he  'lowed  she  didn't  want  him  an'  got 
out  o'  the  game,  when  the  blame  fool'd 
oughter  knowed  that  all  she  wanted  was  a 
man  with  gumption  enough  to  keep  on 
courtin'." 

The  old  man  turned  his  back  for  a  mo 
ment,  while  he  slyly  poured  a  little  water 
into  a  whiskey  bottle  in  which  the  liquor 
was  running  low,  and  then  placing  it  with 
the  other  bottles  he  came  out  to  his  favourite 
seat  by  the  window  and  sat  smoking  for 
some  minutes. 

"  Beats  all,"  he  said,  after  awhile,  "  how 
folks  lets  go  like  that.  Don't  seem  to  have 
no  sense  o'  religion.  The  Good  Book  says, 
'  Go  to  the  ant,'  you  sluggers.  Consider  her 
ways  and  be  wise.  Now,  there  ain't  no 
p'ints  about  a  ant  that's  worth  considering 
'cept  their  almighty  stick  -  to  -  it  -  iveness. 
Stands  to  reason,  it  means  fer  us  to  keep 
peggin'  away  till  we  git  there.  'F  Si  Walk- 
er'd  on'y  pegged  like  the  ants  does,  he 
mought  'a'  been  rich  an'  respected. 


KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH  255 

"  There  was  Pete  Kenney  that  dropped 
off'n  a  boat  here  some  thirty  year  ago  an' 
just  stayed.  There  didn't  seem  to  be  no  rea 
son  why  he  should  'a'  come  here  in  the  first 
place,  or  why  he  should  'a'  stayed  after  he 
arrove,  but  he  did.  Some  said  he  must  'a' 
dropped  on  to  the  boat  by  accident  some- 
wheres  up  the  river,  an'  the  captain  put  him 
off  at  the  first  landin',  him  not  havin'  the 
regulation  fare  in  his  jeans.  However  'twas, 
he  come,  an'  he  remained.  More'n  that,  he's 
well  fixed  now  an'  pays  taxes. 

1  There  warn't  no  reason  fer  it,  fer  as 
anybody  could  see,  'ceptin'  Pete's  all-fired 
persistency.  He  was  a  bright  enough  sort 
o'  man  an'  might  'a'  settled  down  in  business 
fer  himself,  fer  he  got  a  job  as  bartender 
down  to  the  hotel  an'  made  money.  They 
do  say  as  how  a  steady,  industrious  bartender 
in  a  hotel  where  there's  a  good  run  o'  busi 
ness  an'  a  boss  that  drinks  some  himself,  can 
have  a  saloon  of  his  own  in  a  few  years,  an' 
I  reckon  it's  pretty  near  true.  I  kept  bar 
in  a  hotel  myself  when  I  was  young. 

"That   wa'n't    Pete's    lay,    though.,     Pete 


256 STAND    PAT 

used  to  say  that  there  was  one  way  of  estab- 
lishin'  yourself  in  life  that  laid  over  any; 
other,  an7  that  was  to  hold  a  royal  flush  in 
a  good  stiff  game  o'  draw-poker.  Then,  he 
says,  it's  on'y  a  question  o'  how  much  the 
others  has  got  to  inspire  their  confidence, 
an'  how  much  they  has  to  bet  with  that  fixes 
the  amount  to  be  gathered  in,  so's't  a  man 
can  retire  an'  be  respectable  fer  the  rest  of 
his  natural  life. 

"  Some  on  us  reasoned  with  Pete  at  times 
about  this.  We  told  him  that  royal  flushes 
was  sca'ce  game,  an'  that  four  of  a  kind  was 
good  enough  fer  a  careful  player  to  get  rich 
on,  but  Pete  'lowed  that  a  royal  flush  was  the 
on'y  thing  a  man  could  be  dead  sure  of. 
Seems  he'd  had  four  queens  beat  when  he 
was  young,  an'  he'd  1'arned  consid'able  cau 
tion  from  th'  experience. 

" l  As  to  a  royal  flush  bein'  sca'ce,'  Pete 
says,  *  it  stands  to  reason  that  a  man's  goin' 
to  get  it  sometime,  if  he  plays  long  enough. 
Stick  to  it,'  he  says,  '  an'  sooner  or  later  yer 
goin'  to  git  a  royal  flush.  The  on'y  thing 
needed  is  to  stick  to  it.' 


KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH  257 

"  Consequences  was  that  Pete,  havin' 
found  his  theory  of  business  success,  devoted 
himself  to  the  workin'  on  it  out,  with  a  per 
sistency  that  would  'a'  growed  wool  on  a 
nigger's  heel  'f  he'd  devoted  hisself  to  that 
particular  form  of  effort.  Why,  Pete'd  give 
his  nights  an'  days  to  poker.  He  never 
allowed  business  to  interfere  with  a  game, 
long's  he'd  money  to  play  with. 

"  Just  naturally  his  theory  of  the  game 
interfered  with  his  general  success.  Mostly 
it  does  interfere,  I've  noticed,  when  a  man 
gets  theories  in  his  head  an'  plays  the  game 
different  f'm  the  ordinary  run  o'  people. 
These  here  sharps  that  riggers  out  some 
particular  thing  in  the  game  as  bein'  a  dead 
certainty,  always  loses  money  on  it,  for  you 
can  say  what  you  like  about  the  great  Ameri 
can  game,  but  it  certainly  does  beat  anything 
else  for  the  preponderance  of  uncertainty 
that  has  to  be  calculated  on,  whenever  you 
have  a  dead  sure  thing  in  your  mind  —  all 
excepting  a  royal  flush,  as  Pete  used  to  say 
with  ondeniable  wisdom. 

"  Pete's  mind  bein'  fixed,  so  to  speak,  on 


258 STAND    PAT 

that  royal  flush,  you  can  see  for  yourself  that 
it  warped  his  judgment  on  the  question  o' 
drawin'  cards.  Many  a  time  I've  seen  him 
split  a  pair  of  aces,  an'  draw  three  cards  to  a 
ace  an'  queen,  or  ace  an'  ten  o'  the  same  suit. 
Once  I  even  seen  him  split  two  pairs,  aces  an7 
queens,  an'  draw  two  cards  to  the  ace,  queen 
an'  jack  o'  diamonds,  an'  Joe  Hooker  says  he 
seen  the  blamed  ijjit  split  three  kings  to  draw 
to  three  hearts  just  because  they  was  court 
cards  o'  the  same  suit.  An'  the  first  card  he 
picked  up  in  the  draw  was  the  fourth  king. 
Shows  how  a  man'll  overlook  the  blessin's  o' 
Providence  right  in  his  fist,  reachin'  out  after 
things  he  hain't  no  reason  to  hope  for  in  the 
natural  course  of  events.  Stands  to  reason  a 
man'll  lose  money  defyin'  fate  with  such 
monkey-shines  as  them. 

"  'Twasn't  no  use  to  argue  with  Pete, 
though.  He  were  as  obstinate  as  a  mule  an' 
stuck  to  his  notion  o'  gettin'  a  royal  flush  like 
a  sick  nigger  sticks  to  the  Methodist  Church. 
You  couldn't  persuade  him.  One  day  I  says 
to  him,  '  Look  a'  here,  Pete,  a  royal  flush  is 
most  onquestionably  a  good  piece  o'  property, 


KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH  259 

but  what  show  hev  you  got  o'  gettin'  one. 
You  put  me  out  o'  patience.  Look  at  the 
pots  you  might  'a'  scooped  with  two  pairs 
an'  three  of  a  kind  if  you'd  only  drawed  like 
a  Christian/  says  I,  i  instead  o'  puttin'  your 
trust  in  strange  gods,  an'  sacrificin'  your  good 
chips  an'  the  principles  o'  the  game  in  a 
strange  an'  foolish  endeavour.  It's  flyin'  in 
the  face  o'  Providence,'  I  says  to  him,  '  an' 
you'll  go  down  to  your  grave  unhonoured, 
unwept,  an'  unhung  if  you  persist  in  it. 
More'n  that,'  I  says,  '  you'll  be  dead  broke 
all  the  days  o'  your  life.' 

"  But  you  couldn't  convince  him.  '  There's 
four  royal  flushes  in  the  deck,  ain't  there?' 
says  he,  (  an'  them  five  cards  is  just  as  likely 
to  come  as  any  other  five,  ain't  they?  An'  if 
there's  anything  certain  in  this  here  world  o' 
trouble  an'  oncertainty,  'tis  that  a  man'll  get 
'em  sometime,  if  he  keeps  on  tryin'.  An'  say! 
When  I  do  get  'em  if  the  Lord  spares  me  till 
that  happy  day,  I  won't  do  anything  but  swat 
the  gang.' 

" '  The  Lord  can  spare  you  easy  enough,' 
says  I,  disgusted,  '  an'  so  can  the  community 


260 STAND    PAT 

if  you  go  on  tryin'  to  break  up  our  national 
institutions  by  propagatin'  sich  revolutionary 
idees.  It's  worse'n  anarchy,'  I  says.  '  It's 
ridiculous.' 

"  But  there  wa'n't  no  movin'  of  him,  an' 
we  just  had  to  leave  him  to  the  error  of  his 
ways,  an'  what  we  thought  was  the  inevitable 
vengeance  of  heaven.  An'  the  boys  calculated 
that  bein'  as  how  he  was  a  self-app'inted  ves 
sel  o'  wrath,  an'  bound  to  be  skinned  in  the 
game  as  long  as  he  continnered  to  play  it,  it 
was  a  sort  o'  missionary  work  to  assist  in  the 
skinnin'.  Most  of  'em  devoted  themselves  to 
the  missionary  work,  too,  with  such  holy  zeal 
that  Pete  was  broke  most  of  the  time. 

"  He  was  good  grit,  though.  Nobody 
never  heard  him  complain,  for  he  seemed  to 
be  sustained  by  a  calm  confidence  in  that 
royal  flush,  an'  every  time  he  went  broke  he'd 
go  back  to  work  as  chipper  as  a  catfish  an' 
stick  to  it  till  he  had  a  stake  to  sit  into  the 
game  with. 

"  That  was  another  thing  I  used  to  talk  to 
him  about,  while  I  was  trying  to  show  him 
the-  error  of  his  ways.  '  Supposin'  you  do  get 


KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH  261 

a  royal  flush  sometime,'  I  says,  l  how  can  you 
expect  to  get  a  legitimate  profit  out  of  it,  if 
you  go  broke  all  the  time  trying  to  get  it? 
You  won't  have  no  money  to  bet  with,'  I  says. 

"But  all  he  ever  said  to  that  was,  'Oh! 
the  Lord  will  provide.  You  don't  suppose 
things  is  goin'  to  be  so  ordered,  do  ye,  that 
heaven's  richest  blessin'  would  come  to  a 
man,  an'  him  not  have  the  means  to  back  it 
up?  '  Which  was  next  door  to  blasphemy  as 
I  told  him  frequent,  but  he  on'y  smiled.  An' 
when  the  time  come,  as  it  did  finally,  when 
his  faith  was  justified,  an'  he  reaped  the  re 
ward  o'  persistency,  it  were  developed  that 
he  had  good  reason  to  smile,  for  he  had  pro 
vided  for  that  there  contingency  with  a  wis 
dom  compared  to  which  the  guile  o'  the  sar- 
pent  was  as  the  babblings  o'  babes  an'  suck- 
lin's.  Oh!  Pete  was  a  polished  article  even 
if  we  did  size  him  up  for  a  deluded  fanatic 
all  them  years. 

"  It  went  on  for  a  matter  o'  fifteen  year  or 
more,  an'  Pete's  royal  flush  come  to  be  a 
standin'  joke  in  town.  Fellers  would  laugh 
about  it  every  time  he  set  into  a  game,  an'  it 


262 STAND    PAT 

were  esteemed  a  great  piece  o'  wit  for  some 
feller  to  say,  '  I'll  bet  a  thousand  to  one  in 
town  lots  that  Pete  won't  get  a  royal  flush 
to-night.'  'Course,  nobody  ever  took  it  up, 
but  everybody'd  laugh,  an'  Pete  would  laugh 
with  'em,  for  he  was  good-natured,  an'  he'd 
say,  *  I'll  get  it  sometime,  boys,  if  I  don't  to 
night.' 

"  An'  he  did.  If  ever  a  man  won  success 
by  long-continued,  persistent  strugglin'  for  it, 
Pete  Kenney  did,  an'  things  fell  out  about  as 
he'd  always  said  they  would.  It  were  a 
pretty  good  game  from  the  first,  for  there 
was  a  couple  o'  crossroads  gamblers  who'd 
come  to  town  lookin'  for  blood,  an'  it  hap 
pened  that  there  was  two  planters  just  back 
from  New  Orleans  with  their  crop  money  in 
their  pockets,  an'  they  was  lookin'  for  excite 
ment.  One  of  'em  knowed  Pete  an'  liked 
him  an'  ast  him  to  join  in  the  game  that  was 
started  just  about  the  time  they  got  off  at  Ar 
kansas  City  here,  an'  Pete  havin'  a  hundred 
in  his  clothes,  just  naturally  did. 

"  He  played  lucky  from  the  start.  It  hap 
pened,  fortunately,  that  he  didn't  get  a 


KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH  263 

chance  to  make  one  of  his  fool  draws  more'n 
once  in  half  an  hour  or  so,  an'  as  his  play  out 
side  o'  that  was  fairly  good  he  managed  to 
scoop  in  some  rattlin'  good  pots  on  flushes  an' 
fulls,  besides  two  or  three  that  he  took  in  on 
deuces  and  nerve,  or  some  sich  hand. 

"  Anyhow,  he  had  near  a  thousand  in  front 
of  him  when  there  come  a  big  jack-pot  with 
fifty  in  it  before  it  was  opened.  Pete  sat 
next  to  the  dealer  an'  he  passed,  havin'  on'y 
a  king,  jack,  an'  ten  o'  clubs,  an',  o'  course, 
not  bein'  permitted  to  open  under  the  rules. 
The  next  man  opened  it  for  fifty,  the  next 
three  come  in,  an'  Pete  raised  it  a  hundred. 
That  was  his  fool  play.  Whenever  he'd  see 
a  show  for  a  royal  flush  he  used  to  play  as  if 
he  had  it,  for  fear  he  wouldn't  get  the  good 
of  it  when  it  did  come. 

"  Well,  it  worked  pretty  well.  One  of  the 
crossroads  professionals  dropped  out,  but  the 
other  one  had  a  seven  full,  pat,  an'  after  the 
two  planters  had  come  in,  he  raised  Pete  an 
other  hundred.  Pete  came  back  at  him  with 
another  and  one  of  the  planters  dropped. 
The  other  had  a  four  flush  and  he  stayed. 


264  STAND    PAT 

The  gambler,  for  some  reason,  didn't  raise 
again,  but  simply  saw  the  raise,  and  there 
was  thirteen  hundred  dollars  in  the  pot. 

"  In  the  draw  Pete  got  the  ace  an'  queen  o' 
clubs.  I  suppose  if  I'd  a  caught  them  cards 
under  the  circumstances,  I'd  a  dropped  dead, 
but  Pete  never  turned  a  hair.  There  was 
al'ays  a  kind  of  a  drop  to  the  left  side  of  his 
face  an'  it  looked  a  little  droopier  than  usual, 
for  a  minute,  but  he  gave  no  other  sign,  and 
the  others  thought  he  had  three  of  a  kind  at 
the  most.  The  planter  filled  his  flush,  an'  so 
Pete  had  two  good  hands  to  play  against, 
which  was  as  much  as  anybody  could  expect. 
He  had  about  six  hundred  on  the  table  to  bet 
with,  besides,  and  more'n  that,  he  had  re 
sources  that  nobody  at  the  table  knew  about. 

"  The  planter  sat  next  to  the  opener,  who 
dropped  out,  and  as  it  was  his  first  bet  and 
he  had  a  flush,  he  pushed  up  a  hundred,  not 
carin'  to  go  too  heavy  against  the  gambler 
who  had  stood  pat  and  who  had  stood  the 
third  raise  before  the  draw.  The  gambler 
raised,  of  course,  pushin'  up  three-fifty. 

"  Things  was   a-goin'   Pete's  way,  but  he 


KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH  265 

never  grinned.  What  he  had  to  do  was  to 
make  the  others  think  he  was  bluffing,  so  he 
studies  his  cards  careful  for  awhile  an'  then 
says,  sort  o'  desperate-like  an'  sudden,  '  I'll 
see  that,  an'  I'll  go  you  two-fifty  better,'  an' 
he  pushes  his  pile  to  the  middle  of  the  table, 
barrin'  fifteen  or  twenty  dollars  he  had  in 
loose  change. 

"  The  planter's  flush  was  king  high,  so  he 
saw  it,  but  didn't  raise,  an'  the  gambler 
raised  it  five  hundred,  thinking  that  Pete 
would  drop  out.  *  That's  more  than  your 
threes  are  worth,  I  reckon,'  he  said,  with  a 
sneer,  but  Pete  never  answered  him.  He 
studied  his  cards  awhile  longer  and  then 
said,  pretty  slow,  *  I  haven't  got  the  cash  to 
see  you,  but  I've  got  the  deeds  to  some  prop 
erty  here  that's  pretty  valuable,  an'  if  you'll 
take  that  for  security,  I'll  raise  you  a 
thousand.' 

"  He  pulled  some  law  papers  out  of  his 
pocket  as  he  spoke  and  laid  them  on  the 
table,  but  the  gambler  spoke  up,  very  nasty, 
an'  says:  '  I  ain't  buyin'  no  property  without 


266 STAND    PAT 

looking  at  it,  an'  money  is  the  on'y  thing  that 
talks  in  this  game/ 

"  Pete  looked  at  the  planter,  but  he  shook 
his  head.  '  I  wouldn't  mind  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned,'  he  said,  '  but  there  is  an  objection 
made.  I  don't  see  how  I  can  help  you.' 

" '  Very  well,'  says  Pete,  pretending  to 
look  troubled,  l  then  I'll  have  to  ask  for  a 
few  minutes'  time  till  I  can  get  some  money 
to  play  with.  Sam,'  he  says  to  the  nigger 
that  was  bringing  them  drinks,  '  take  these 
papers  over  to  Mr.  Stevens  an'  ask  him  if  he 
will  loan  me  ten  thousand  dollars  on  them.' 

"  Then  there  was  a  little  wrangle.  The 
other  gambler  who  had  dropped  out  objected 
to  the  delay,  but  the  two  planters  spoke  up 
for  Pete  and  the  gambler  who  held  the  full 
house  said  he  was  willin'  to  wait  while  the 
gentleman  got  some  more  money,  as  he  was 
goin'  to  win  it  anyhow,  so  Sam  went  over  to 
Mr.  Stevens's  house.  Stevens  bein'  the  presi 
dent  of  our  bank  an'  a  gentleman  with 
proper  sporting  habits. 

"  Some  of  us  that  was  lookin'  on  was 
guessin'  for  fair.  We  never  knowed  o'  Pete 


KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH  267 

havin'  no  property,  an'  we  thought  he  was 
bluffin',  but  we  couldn't  see  just  how  he 
reckoned  he  could  work  it,  or  what  he  ex 
pected  to  do.  I  says  to  myself,  '  I  reckon  he's 
caught  that  royal  flush,  but  what  this  move 
means  is  more'n  I  know.'  Anyhow,  there 
warn't  nothin'  to  do  but  wait,  an'  I  waited  as 
all  the  others  did,  for  it  looked  as  if  there'd 
be  some  fun. 

"  Pretty  soon  Mr.  Stevens  came  back  with 
the  nigger,  an'  says,  *  What's  this  mean,  Pete? 
The  nigger  says  you  want  to  borrow  ten 
thousand  dollars.' 

"  '  Yes,  I  do,'  says  Pete. 

"  '  Well,'  says  Stevens,  l  you  can  have  the 
money  on  these  deeds,  of  course,  if  you'll 
come  to  the  bank  to-morrow,  but  you  — ' 

"  *  I  want  it  now,'  says  Pete,  interrupting 
an'  as  he  spoke  he  picked  up  his  cards  from 
the  table  where  they  had  been  lying,  an' 
holdin'  'em  kind  o'  careless,  just  so  that 
Stevens  could  see  'em,  but  pretendin'  not  to 
notice  that  they  could  be  seen. 

"  *  Oh! '  says  Stevens,  '  you  want  the  money 


268 STAND    FAT 

to  play  with,  do  you?    But  certainly  you  ain't 
goin'  to  bet  on  that  hand? ' 

"  *  You'll  oblige  me,'  says  Pete,  pretendin' 
to  get  in  a  terrible  rage,  c  by  sayin'  nothin' 
about  my  hand.  It  may  not  be  the  strongest 
hand  in  the  deck,  but  it's  the  best  one  out. 
Besides,  it's  my  own  business  what  I  do  with 
the  money.  The  question  is  whether  you'll 
let  me  have  it.' 

"  Oh,  yes,'  says  Stevens,  '  I'll  let  you  have 
it,  all  right.  That  is,  I'll  give  you  my  per 
sonal  check.' 

"  I  reckon  that's  good,'  says  Pete,  an'  so  it 
was,  for  everybody  on  the  river  knowed 
Stevens. 

"  It  was  the  neatest  play  I  ever  expect  to 
see,  for  them  papers  wasn't  worth  the  ink 
that  was  on  'em.  It  seems  that  Stevens  had 
come  to  know  about  Pete  always  playin'  for 
a  royal  flush,  an'  had  joked  him  about  it, 
knowin'  Pete  pretty  well  an'  likin'  him  as  a 
man  gets  to  like  a  bartender  that  treats  him 
right,  an'  Pete  had  got  him  to  promise  to 
lend  him  all  the  money  he  needed  to  play 
with,  whenever  he  should  get  the  royal  flush. 


"'BUT    CERTAINLY    YOU    AIN'T    COIN1 
HAND? '" 


TO    BET    ON    THAT 


KENNEY'S  ROYAL  FLUSH  269 

Then  when  Stevens  came  over  to  lend  him 
the  money  if  he  really  had  the  cards,  him 
knowin'  that  the  deeds  was  a  bluff,  he  was 
sport  enough  and  liked  Pete  well  enough  to 
help  him  along  with  his  little  remark  about 
not  betting  on  that  hand. 

"  Of  course,  when  they  heard  that,  the 
other  players  thought  sure  he  was  bluffing, 
an'  Pete  coaxed  'em  along  till  he  cleaned  up 
$18,000.  Then  he  invested  the  money,  an',  as 
I  said,  become  a  respectable  taxpayer.  It  all 
shows  what  a  man  can  do  by  stickin'  to  what 
he  has  to  do  in  this  world." 


THE  END. 


C.  page  anb  Company's 
Hnncmncement  %fet 
of  1Rew  fiction 


Carolina  Lee 

By  LILIAN  BELL,  author  of  "  Hope  Loring,"  "  Abroad  with  the 

Jimmies,"  etc. 

With  a  frontispiece  in  colour  from  an  oil  painting  by  Dora  Wheeler 

Keith $1.50 

A  typical  "  Lilian  Bell"  book,  bright,  breezy,  amusing,  philosophic, 
full  of  fun  and  bits  of  quotable  humour. 

Carolina  is  a  fascinating  American  girl,  born  and  educated  in  Paris, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  story  riding  on  the  top  wave  of  success 
in  New  York  society.  A  financial  catastrophe  leaves  her  stranded 
without  money,  and  her  only  material  asset  an  old,  run-down  planta 
tion  in  South  Carolina.  In  the  face  of  strong  opposition  she  goes 
South  to  restore  the  old  homestead  and  rebuild  her  fortunes.  Com 
plications  speedily  follow,  but,  with  indomitable  faith  and  courage, 
Carolina  perseveres  until  her  efforts  are  rewarded  by  success  and 
happiness. 

The  Cruise  of  the  Conqueror 

BEING  THE  FURTHER  ADVENTURES  OF  THE  MOTOR  PIRATE. 

By  G.  SIDNEY  PATERNOSTER,  author  of  "The   Motor  Pirate," 

etc. 

With  a  frontispiece  by  Frank  T.  Merrill     .         .         .  $1.50 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  games  to  childhood  is  the  old-fash 
ioned  "  hide-and-seek,"  with  its  scurrying  for  covert,  its  breathless 
suspense  to  both  hider  and  seeker,  and  its  wild  dash  for  goal  when 
the  seeker  is  successful.  Readers  of  "  The  Motor  Pirate  "  will  re 
member  the  exciting  game  played  by  the  motor  pirate  and  his  pur 
suers,  and  will  be  glad  to  have  the  sport  taken  up  again  in  the  new 
volume. 

In  "The  Cruise  of  the  Conqueror,"  a  motor-boat  enables  the 
motor  pirate  to  pursue  his  victims  in  even  a  bolder  and  more 
startling  way,  such,  for  example,  as  the  hold-up  of  an  ocean  steamer 
and  the  seizure  for  ransom  of  the  Prince  of  Monte  Carlo. 


L.  C.  PAGE  AND  COMPANY'S 


The  Passenger  from  Calais 

A  DETECTIVE  STORY.    By  ARTHUR  GRIFFITHS. 

Cover  design  by  Eleanor  Hobson I1-2 5 

A  bright,  quickly  moving  detective  story  telling  of  the  adventures 
which  befell  a  mysterious  lady  flying  from  Calais  through  France 
into  Italy,  closely  pursued  by  detectives.  Her  own  quick  wits, 
aided  by  those  of  a  gallant  fellow  passenger,  give  the  two  officers 
an  unlooked-for  and  exciting  "  run  for  their  money."  One  hardly 
realizes  till  now  the  dramatic  possibilities  of  a  railway  train,  and 
what  an  opportunity  for  excitement  may  be  afforded  by  a  joint 
railway  station  for  two  or  more  roads. 

It  is  a  well-planned,  logical  detective  story  of  the  better  sort,  free 
from  cheap  sensationalism  and  improbability,  developing  surely  and 
steadily  by  means  of  exciting  situations  to  an  unforeseen  and  satis 
factory  ending. 

The  Golden  Arrow 

By  T.  JENKINS  HAINS,  author  of  "  The  Black  Barque,"  "  The 

Windjammers,"  etc. 

With  six  illustrations  by  H.  C.  Edwards     ....    $1.50 

Another  of  Captain  Hains's  inimitable  sea  stories,  in  which  piracy, 
storm,  and  shipwreck  are  cleverly  intermingled  with  love  and  romance, 
and  vivid  and  picturesque  descriptions  of  life  at  sea.  Mr.  Hains's 
new  story  describes  the  capture  on  the  high  seas  of  an  American 
vessel  by  a  gang  of  convicts,  who  have  seized  and  burned  the 
English  ship  on  which  they  were  being  transported,  and  their  final 
recapture  by  a  British  man-of-war. 

The  Treasure  Trail 

By  FRANK  L.  POLLOCK. 

Library  1 2mo,  cloth  decorative $1-25 

This  is  a  splendid  story  of  adventure,  full  of  good  incidents  that 
are  exceptionally  exciting.  The  story  deals  with  the  search  for  gold 
bullion,  originally  stolen  from  the  Boer  government  in  Pretoria,  and 
stored  in  a  steamer  sunk  somewhere  in  the  Mozambique  Channel. 
Two  different  search  parties  are  endeavouring  to  secure  the  treasure, 
and  the  story  deals  with  their  adventures  and  its  final  recovery  by 
one  party  only  a  few  hours  before  the  arrival  of  the  second. 

The  book  reads  like  an  extract  from  life,  and  the  whole  story  is 
vivid  and  realistic  with  descriptions  of  the  life  of  a  party  of  gentle 
men  adventurers  who  are  willing  to  run  great  odds  for  great  gains. 

There  is  also  "  a  woman  in  the  case,"  Margaret  Laurie,  who  proves 
a  delightful,  reliant,  and  audacious  heroine. 


LIST  OF  NEW  FICTION 


Miss  Frances  Baird,  Detective 

By  REGINALD  WRIGHT  KAUFFMAN,  author  of  "  Jarvis  of  Har 
vard,"  etc. 

Library  I2mo,  cloth  decorative $1-25 

A  double  robbery  and  a  murder  have  given  Mr.  Kauffman  the 
material  for  his  clever  detective  story.  Miss  Baird  tells  how  she 
finally  solved  the  mystery,  and  how  she  outwitted  the  other  detec 
tive  at  work  on  the  case,  by  her  woman's  intuition  and  sympathy, 
when  her  reputation  for  keenness  and  efficiency  was  hanging  in  the 
balance. 

The  Idlers 

By  MORLEY  ROBERTS,  author  of  "  Rachel   Marr,"   "  Lady  Pe 
nelope,"  etc. 

With  frontispiece  in  colour  by  John  C.  Frohn  .  .  .  $1.50 
The  London  Literary  World  says :  "  In  '  The  Idlers '  Mr.  Morley 
Roberts  does  for  the  smart  set  of  London  what  Mrs.  Wharton  has 
done  in  '  The  House  of  Mirth '  for  the  American  social  class  of  the 
same  name.  His  primary  object  seems  to  be  realism,  the  portrayal 
of  life  as  it  is  without  exaggeration,  and  we  were  impressed  by  the 
reserve  displayed  by  the  novelist.  It  is  a  powerful  novel,  a  merci 
less  dissection  of  modern  society  similar  to  that  which  a  skilful  sur 
geon  would  make  of  a  pathological  case." 

The  New  York  Sun  says :  "  It  is  as  absorbing  as  the  devil.  Mr. 
Roberts  gives  us  the  antithesis  of  'Rachel  Marr'  in  an  equally 
masterful  and  convincing  work." 

Professor  Charles  G.  D.  Roberts  says :  "  It  is  a  work  of  great 
ethical  force." 

Stand  Pat 

OR,  POKER  STORIES  FROM  BROWNVILLE.    By  DAVID  A.  CUR 
TIS,  author  of  "  Queer  Luck,"  etc. 

With  six  drawings  by  Henry  Roth $1.50 

Mr.  Curtis  is  the  poker  expert  of  the  New  York  Sun,  and  many 
of  the  stories  in  "  Stand  Pat "  originally  appeared  in  the  Sun.  Al 
though  in  a  sense  short  stories,  they  have  a  thread  of  continuity,  in 
that  the  principal  characters  appear  throughout.  Every  poker  player 
will  enjoy  Mr.  Curtis's  clever  recital  of  the  strange  luck  to  which 
Dame  Fortune  sometimes  treats  her  devotees  in  the  uncertain  game 
of  draw  poker,  and  will  appreciate  the  startling  coups  by  which  she 
is  occasionally  outwitted. 


4    L.  C.  PAGE  AND  COMPANY'S  LIST  OF  NEW  FICTION 

The  Count  at  Harvard 

BEING  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ADVENTURES  OF  A  YOUNG 
GENTLEMAN  OF  FASHION  AT  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY.  By 
RUPERT  SARGENT  HOLLAND. 

With  a  characteristic  cover  design $1-50 

With  the  possible  exception  of  Mr.  Flandrau's  work,  the  "  Count 
at  Harvard  "  is  the  most  natural  and  the  most  truthful  exposition  of 
average  student  life  yet  written,  and  is  thoroughly  instinct  with  the 
real  college  atmosphere.  "  The  Count "  is  not  a  foreigner,  but  is 
the  nickname  of  one  of  the  principal  characters  in  the  book. 

The  story  is  clean,  bright,  clever,  and  intensely  amusing.  Typical 
Harvard  institutions,  such  as  the  Hasty  Pudding  Club,  The  Crimson, 
the  Crew,  etc.,  are  painted  with  deft  touches,  which  will  fill  the  soul 
of  every  graduate  with  joy,  and  be  equally  as  fascinating  to  all  college 
students. 


Selections  from 

L.  C.  Page  and  Company's 

List  of  Fiction 


WORKS  OF 

ROBERT  NEILSON  STEPHENS 

Each  one  vo/.,  library  i2mo,  cloth,  decorative    .         .         . 

The  Flight  of  Georgiana 

A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  DAYS  OF  THE  YOUNG  PRETENDER.  Illus 
trated  by  H.  C.  Edwards. 

"  A  love-story  in  the  highest  degree,  a  dashing  story,  and  a  re 
markably  well  finished  piece  of  work."  —  Chicago  Record-Herald. 

The  Bright  Face  of  Danger 

Being  an  account  of  some  adventures  of  Henri  de  Launay,  son  of 

the  Sieur  de  la  Tournoire.     Illustrated  by  H.  C.  Edwards. 

"  Mr.   Stephens  has  fairly  outdone    himself.       We  thank   him 

heartily.     The   story  is   nothing  if   not   spirited   and  entertaining, 

rational  and  convincing."  —  Boston  Transcript. 

The  Mystery  of  Murray  Davenport 

(40th  thousand.) 

"This  is  easily  the  best  thing  that  Mr.  Stephens  has  yet  done. 
Those  familiar  with  his  other  novels  can  best  judge  the  measure  of 
this  praise,  which  is  generous."  —  Buffalo  Nevus. 

Captain  Ravenshaw 

OR,  THE  MAID  OF  CHEAPSIDE.  (52d  thousand.)  A  romance 
of  Elizabethan  London.  Illustrations  by  Howard  Pyle  and  other 
artists. 

Not  since  the  absorbing  adventures  of  D'Artagnan  have  we  had 
anything  so  good  in  the  blended  vein  of  romance  and  comedy. 

The  Continental  Dragoon 

A  ROMANCE  OF  PHILIPSE  MANOR  HOUSE  IN  1778.  (53d 
thousand.)  Illustrated  by  H.  C.  Edwards. 

A  stirring  romance  of  the  Revolution,  with  its  scene  laid  on 
neutral  territory. 

I 


L.    C.   PAGE   AND    COMPANY'S 


Philip  Winwood 

(yoth  thousand.)  A  Sketch  of  the  Domestic  History  of  an 
American  Captain  in  the  War  of  Independence,  embracing  events 
that  occurred  between  and  during  the  years  1763  and  1785  in 
New  York  and  London.  Illustrated  by  E.  W.  D.  Hamilton. 

An  Enemy  to  the  King 

(7Oth  thousand.)     From  the  "  Recently  Discovered  Memoirs   of 
the  Sieur  de  la  Tournoire."     Illustrated  by  H.  De  M.  Young. 
An   historical  romance  of  the   sixteenth  century,  describing  the 

adventures  of  a  young  French  nobleman  at  the  court  of  Henry  III., 

and  on  the  field  with  Henry  IV. 

The  Road  to  Paris 

A  STORY  OF  ADVENTURE.      (35th  thousand.)      Illustrated  by 

H.  C.  Edwards. 

An  historical  romance  of  the  eighteenth  century,  being  an  account 
of  the  life  of  an  American  gentleman  adventurer  of  Jacobite  an 
cestry. 

A  Gentleman  Player 

His  ADVENTURES  ON  A  SECRET  MISSION  FOR  QUEEN  ELIZA 
BETH.     (48th  thousand.)     Illustrated  by  Frank  T.  Merrill. 
The  story  of  a  young  gentleman  who  joins  Shakespeare's  com 
pany  of  players,  and  becomes  a  friend  and  protege  of   the  great 
poet. 

WORKS  OF 

CHARLES  G.  D.  ROBERTS 

Red  Fox 

THE  STORY  OF  His  ADVENTUROUS  CAREER  IN  THE  RINGWAAK 
WILDS,  AND  OF  His  FINAL  TRIUMPH  OVER  THE  ENEMIES  OF 
His  KIND.  With  fifty  illustrations,  including  frontispiece  in 
color  and  cover  design  by  Charles  Livingston  Bull. 

Square  quarto,  cloth  decorative $2.00 

"  Infinitely  more  wholesome  reading   than   the   average   tale  of 

sport,  since  it  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  hunt  from  the  point  of  view  of 

the  hunted."  —  Boston  Transcript. 

"  True  in  substance  but  fascinating   as  fiction.     It  will  interest 

old  and  young,  city-bound  and  free-footed,  those  who  know  animals 

and  those  who  do  not."  —  Chicago  Record- Her  aid. 

"A  brilliant  chapter  in   natural  history."  —  Philadelphia  North 

American. 


LIST  OF  FICTION 


The  Kindred  of  the  Wild 

A  BOOK  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE.  With  fifty-one  full-page  plates  and 
many  decorations  from  drawings  by  Charles  Livingston  Bull. 

Square  quarto,  decorative  cover $2.00 

"  Is  in  many  ways  the  most  brilliant  collection  of  animal  stories 
that  has  appeared ;  well  named  and  well  done."  — John  Burroughs. 

The  Watchers  of  the  Trails 

A   companion   volume  to   "  The  Kindred  of  the  Wild."     With 

forty-eight  full-page  plates  and  many  decorations  from  drawings 

by  Charles  Livingston  Bull. 

Square  quarto,  decorative  cover $2.00 

"  Mr.  Roberts  has  written  a  most  interesting  series  of  tales  free 
from  the  vices  of  the  stories  regarding  animals  of  many  other 
writers,  accurate  in  their  facts  and  admirably  and  dramatically  told." 
— 'Chicago  News. 

"  These  stories  are  exquisite  in  their  refinement,  and  yet  robust 
in  their  appreciation  of  some  of  the  rougher  phases  of  woodcraft. 
Among  the  many  writers  about  animals,  Mr.  Roberts  occupies  an 
enviable  place."  —  The  Outlook. 

"  This  is  a  book  full  of  delight.  An  additional  charm  lies  in  Mr. 
Bull's  faithful  and  graphic  illustrations,  which  in  fashion  all  their 
own  tell  the  story  of  the  wild  life,  illuminating  and  supplementing 
the  pen  pictures  of  the  author."  — Literary  Digest. 

Earth's  Enigmas 

A  new  edition  of  Mr.  Roberts's  first  volume  of  fiction,  published 
in  1892,  and  out  of  print  for  several  years,  with  the  addition  of 
three  new  stories,  and  ten  illustrations  by  Charles  Livingston 
Bull. 

Library  1 2mo,  cloth,  decorative  cover         .         .         .         .     $1.50 

"  It   will   rank    high   among   collections   of    short    stories.       In 

'  Earth's  Enigmas  '  is  a  wider  range  of  subject  than  in  the  '  Kindred 

of  the  Wild.'  "  —  Review  from  advance  sheets  of  the  illustrated  edition 

by  Tiffany  Blake  in  the  Chicago  Evening  Post. 

Barbara  Ladd 

With  four  illustrations  by  Frank  Verbeck. 

Library  I2mo,  gilt  top $1.50 

"  From  the  opening  chapter  to  the  final  page  Mr.  Roberts  lures 
us  on  by  his  rapt  devotion  to  the  changing  aspects  of  Nature  and 
by  his  keen  and  sympathetic  analysis  of  human  character."  — 
Boston  Transcript. 


L.   C.  PAGE  AND   COMPANY'S 


Cameron  of  Lochiel 

Translated  from  the  French  of  Philippe  Aubert  de  Gaspe,  with 

frontispiece  in  color  by  H.  C.  Edwards. 

Library  I2mo,  cloth  decorative $1.50 

"  Professor  Roberts  deserves  the  thanks  of  his  reader  for  giving 
a  wider  audience  an  opportunity  to  enjoy  this  striking  bit  of  French 
Canadian  literature."  —  Brooklyn  Eagle. 

"  It  is  not  often  in  these  days  of  sensational  and  philosophical 
novels  that  one  picks  up  a  book  that  so  touches  the  heart."  — 
Boston  Transcript. 

The  Prisoner  of  Mademoiselle 

With  frontispiece  by  Frank  T.  Merrill. 

Library  I2mo,  cloth  decorative,  gilt  top      .         .         .        .    $1.50 

A  tale  of  Acadia,  —  a  land  which  is  the  author's  heart's  delight, 
—  of  a  valiant  young  lieutenant  and  a  winsome  maiden,  who  first 
captures  and  then  captivates. 

"  This  is  the  kind  of  a  story  that  makes  one  grow  younger,  more 
innocent,  more  light-hearted.  Its  literary  quality  is  impeccable. 
It  is  not  every  day  that  such  a  heroine  blossoms  into  even  tempo 
rary  existence,  and  the  very  name  of  the  story  bears  a  breath  of 
charm."  —  Chicago  Record-Herald. 

The  Heart  of  the  Ancient  Wood 

With  six  illustrations  by  James  L.  Weston. 

Library  1 2mo,  decorative  cover $1.50 

"One  of  the  most  fascinating  novels  of  recent  days." — Boston 
Journal. 

"  A  classic  twentieth-century  romance."  —  New  York  Commercial 
Advertiser. 

The  Forge  in  the  Forest 

Being  the  Narrative  of  the  Acadian  Ranger,  Jean  de  Mer, 
Seigneur  de  Briart,  and  how  he  crossed  the  Black  Abbe,  and  of 
his  adventures  in  a  strange  fellowship.  Illustrated  by  Henry 
Sandham,  R.  C.  A. 

Library  12 mo,  cloth,  gilt  top $1-50 

A  story  of  pure  love  and  heroic  adventure. 

By  the  Marshes  of  Minas 

Library  I2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  illustrated  .  .  .  .  $1.50 
Most  of  these  romances  are  in  the  author's  lighter  and  more 

playful   vein;   each  is  a  unit  of  absorbing  interest  and   exquisite 

workmanship. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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